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Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by Kluny on Saturday February 04, 2017 @11:46PM (#13570913)
Wildly insufficient. As a local, I'd vote that foreigners shouldn't be allowed to buy property here at all - not residential, not speculative, not vacation homes, nothing. 1% tax is slightly better than nothing, I guess.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jimmywanger on Sunday February 05, 2017 @12:22AM (#13571029)
> As a local, I'd vote that foreigners shouldn't be allowed to buy property here at all

Define "local" and "foreigner". Does local mean you grew up in vancouver, or moved there a while ago, or your family spent three generations there already?

In addition, define foreigner. Anywhere else in British Columbia considered "foreign"? What about from Ottowa?

If you mean that you want to punish behaviour, such as buying houses and properties you don't live in or use, that's one thing. Discrimination based on locality sounds an awful lot like Jim Crow laws.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by true_religion on Sunday February 05, 2017 @12:33AM (#13571060)
I think he means foreigner as in a non-permanent resident.

It isn't unheard of. In SE Asia (the Phillipines for example), all properties must have 50%+ occupancy by permanent residents.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jimmywanger on Sunday February 05, 2017 @01:52AM (#13571290)
> In SE Asia (the Phillipines for example), all properties must have 50%+ occupancy by permanent residents.

I think that's an overly wide generalization. For instance, in Thailand, I don't think you're allowed to own land or houses, just a condo. In Laos, you can't own land at all.

The situation is much the same in much of Latin America.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by toyg on Sunday February 05, 2017 @07:24AM (#13572102)
Not exactly rich countries.

Let's face it, capital coming into the country to buy property is a Good Thing from an economic perspective. You "just" have to make sure this capital rewards low-income people as much as property owners. This tax is one way to do that, which I think is very good.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by cm2187 on Sunday February 05, 2017 @04:57AM (#13571663)
Switzerland also has strict restrictions on foreigners and non residents buying properties.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by ianai on Sunday February 05, 2017 @02:27AM (#13571355)
I think asking someone to live in a home they own 6 months a year in the same city as their property(ies) satisfies 'fairness'. It's important to allow people to live their lives, but over speculation hurts many people to a much larger extent.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jcoffland on Sunday February 05, 2017 @03:48AM (#13571518)
You had me right up to Jim Crow laws. That is a bit hyperbolic and an inappropriate comparison, IMO.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jimmywanger on Sunday February 05, 2017 @12:50PM (#13573505)
"Foreign real estate investor" in Vancouver is a thinly veiled euphemism for "Chinese and Russian money."

When you're passing a law that disproportionately affects certain ethnic groups, that particular comparison is apt.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by toomuchtodo on Sunday February 05, 2017 @01:32PM (#13573710)
Most of the Russian and Chinese money is being laundered out of their respective countries.

Your ethnicity isn't being discrimated against, just your country's economics circumstances. No reason to bring the SJWing into an economic argument.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jimmywanger on Sunday February 05, 2017 @05:23PM (#13575034)
>Your ethnicity isn't being discrimated against, just your country's economics circumstances.

Restricting people, no matter their ethnicities, based on their country's circumstances is generally frowned upon. Especially when it only affects citizens of a few countries. "Well, this law only applies to <action> Too bad only people from these countries perform these <actions>"

Besides, your claim that the money is being laundered is highly speculative and unproven. That's the definition of painting with a wide brush - because most money is suspect, you cut off access to all of it?

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by toomuchtodo on Sunday February 05, 2017 @06:25PM (#13575356)
Both local governments and popular opinion in those regions differ from your opinion, although you are still entitled to that opinion.

Local residents and voters have the right to keep others out if their laws allow for it. Outsiders/non-citizens don't get a vote.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by zzalpha on Sunday February 05, 2017 @07:35PM (#13575642)
Wut?

This is fundamentally a monetary and trade policy issue.

Are you claiming that, for example, tarriffs on Chinese dumped imports are also equivalent to racially targeted laws?

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by wattt on Sunday February 05, 2017 @07:12AM (#13572050)
Likewise
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by wattt on Sunday February 05, 2017 @07:12AM (#13572047)
Canada didn't have Jim Crow laws, wrong country.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jimmywanger on Sunday February 05, 2017 @12:55PM (#13573525)
http://startouch.thestar.com/screens/003e50ae-8fe5-4e1f-be7e...

Your simplistic views of history do not explain reality. Just because they weren't called Jim Crow laws doesn't mean that similar laws didn't exist.

Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by wattt on Monday February 06, 2017 @04:25AM (#13577890)
I didn't say similar things didn't exist in Canada, I said "Jim Crow" didn't exist in Canada because that was the subject of the comment I was replying to. Thanks for the scolding though.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by Kluny on Sunday February 05, 2017 @03:35AM (#13571486)
Local (in my case) means born in Vancouver and raised in bc. Foreigner means not a Canadian citizen. I don't think anyone who isn't a Canadian citizen should be allowed to buy Canadian property.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by jimmywanger on Sunday February 05, 2017 @05:25PM (#13575047)
You still have not given reasons why you think that people who aren't Canadian citizens should be allowed to buy Canadian property, or that the fact that you're a "local" by some definition of the word gives you some sort of special insight or moral authority on the matter.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by msie on Sunday February 05, 2017 @04:56AM (#13571660)
Only 15% of purchases were made by foreigners. 85% were made by Canadians. How about places in Alberta when the oil business was booming? Prices were driven up by Canadians, not foreigners. Everyone wants to solely blame foreigners when there were other issues like geography, low-interest mortgages, Vancouver being the only major city on the Canadian west coast, etc. What about foreigners coming here to work and plant roots?
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by tehlike on Sunday February 05, 2017 @03:12AM (#13571445)
As a local, you probably are more interested in keeping your networth, at least that's what most people want. I am not sure if they would necessarily want their home prices go down.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by smsm42 on Sunday February 05, 2017 @03:39PM (#13574497)
Or for that matter occupy any property. Because if they rent, that drives rental prices up, which means it's more profitable to buy for renting out, which drives prices up. I think the best solution would be to not let any of those pesky foreigners with their evil money into the country at all. Surely the prices will go down then. May be the economy too, but worth it, no?
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by Zach_the_Lizard on Sunday February 05, 2017 @08:52AM (#13572408)
What you want is a land value tax that would punish speculation, foreign and home grown. Bonus: it encourages building more housing, unlike standard property taxes.
Re:Vancouver house prices are falling by wattt on Sunday February 05, 2017 @07:11AM (#13572045)
So you want Vancouver to be a Prince Edward Island!