https://homefreesociology.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/quickest-...
Notice how Vancouver is in the bottom of the middle of the pack in rent to income ratios.
Property taxes and foreign money don't affect rental rates. Ony NIMBYism does.
But yes, that was the only thing saving BC from being a place where nobody could afford to live in it, since the rental market reflected the local supply & demand only.
If your a typical professional making $4000/month after taxes, you will be paying something around $1500+ for a 1 bedroom apartment in Vancouver, which isn't %25, but %37+ of income.
But the claims of Vancouver having unaffordable housing predate the recent decline in the vacancy rates. They stem from the high price of a Single Family House, which for a densely populated metropolitan area like Vancouver is an inappropriate standard for housing affordability IMO.
1. Strong NIMBY anti-development policies.
2. Low property taxes.
3. Foreign money using housing as a bank account.
You see it in vancouver, london, SF, NYC and you'll probably find those ingredients in other places too.
To counteract it you need:
Federal legislation that prevents any city or province from restricting dense multi-family development of up to 20 stories. By right development, minimal parking requirements and so on. It's in the interest of the federal government to make housing affordable, but not so much in the interest of local governments. Something like Japan's federal inclusive zoning laws are ideal.
Property tax is a wealth tax, and it happens to be pretty low in places like Vancouver or London. I would increase it to something around %1 in stages. People are more accepting of a property tax than a straight wealth tax because it already exists and doesn't directly penalize saving behavior.
Also adding high taxes on unoccupied units in dense areas. And an other housing tax on non-residents of a city to make using housing as a bank account a really bad idea.