People cite more ‘conspiracy-minded theories’ as reasons for housing crisis: poll
Posted August 2, 2018 1:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It comes as no surprise housing and affordability continue to be one of the most important issues among those living around Metro Vancouver.
A new poll by Insights West has found people overwhelmingly believe the region is in the midst of a major housing crisis — something you wouldn’t think needed a study to conclude. However, it’s what people believe is behind the crisis that jumps out to the pollster.
“Because it really focuses on the demand side of the equation, not so much the supply,” explains Insights West President Steve Mossop. “What I mean by that is looking at things like foreign buyers and shadow flipping and money laundering, they raised to the top of the list. Sort of the more conspiracy-minded series of why the real estate is going where it’s going.”
He says these beliefs counter what people would normally see as the reason behind a crisis, like an issue with supply or interprovincial migration.
According to Mossop, studies have shown that both foreign buyers and money laundering are minor factors.
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Close to half of British Columbians have identified housing affordability at the number one issue facing the province. Most people in Metro Vancouver — 59 per cent — say they’ve been negatively impacted by the current situation.
A surprise finding from the poll, Mossop says, is how many homeowners feel that high property prices aren’t a benefit to them.
“There’s only about 20-something per cent who believe that it’s a positive impact to them. There’s a third that say it’s neutral, but 41 per cent say it’s affecting them negatively. So, that was a bit of a puzzle given that they’re increasing their value of their net worth every day that goes by that their property values increase.”
Property owners have cited higher taxes every time assessments go up as one reason for this belief.
“There’s a notion that if you sold, you couldn’t do anything in this local area. You’d be forced to move and uproot and go somewhere else,” he adds. “So there’s that whole part of it that they feel trapped, in a sense, even though the network is increasing, it’s not material or at least tangible in their hands.”
While there has been a slight dip in house prices, Mossop says they’d have to go a lot further for people to change their views on the housing situation.
On whether anything can be done, he adds a recent poll conducted by Insights West showed a number of British Columbians rated the government very poorly when it came to the housing file.
“You can’t really create new land supply without some radical changes and policies,” he says. “It’s a tough agenda to tackle.”
