[klyrs]

The cities are all extremely friendly to developers (our "affordable housing" is $1700/mo for a 1-bdrm and developers are only required to build a small fraction of "affordable" units). I'm not sure how familiar you are with the area, but it doesn't seem like anybody is holding back on new development except for some weak and failing anti-gentrification efforts. Another significant factor in our local economy is a massive amount of money laundering, perhaps billions of dollars worth. It's been washed in real estate -- and laundry is one place where supply and demand break down: losses are acceptable.

What we're seeing is a huge demand for apartments, at rates that property owners can't afford, given the massively inflated value (hence tax). And homeowners (the upper-middle class), sensibly, don't want to see the market crash. So they don't actually want the government to act: new homeowners fear losing half of their investment. It's a vexatious problem all around

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

Perhaps in Vancouver the supply constraint is not political, although I somewhat doubt that. My impression from reading about it is that they allow relatively little high density building.

https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/statistics-on...

From looking at this, it looks like over the last three years they've added between five and six thousand units a year. But the annual population growth during that time has been around 30k people per year. Given the average household size in Canada is south of three people, that means there have been ten thousand households added, two for each unit built.

So, to the extent that Vancouver's government is preventing the building of mid- and high-density housing, I stand by my statement. If they have done all they can to enable the building of such construction, then we must look elsewhere for our cause.

[msie]

I don't believe the money-laundering is as large a factor as simple supply and demand. The money-laundering report says that prices may have been inflated at 5% (and maybe more in Vancouver proper) but how could a 5% increase put off so many buyers? Also the problem with the report is it's a lot of guessing. Yes, money launderers may have been buying mansions and expensive condos but the vast majority is bought by not-money-launderers. I'm afraid this money-laundering narrative has gotten out of hand in the media and the politicians where they are blamed for everything. Plus Vancouver is notorious for a slow approval process for construction permits with waits of 1-2 years.

[tormeh]

Looked up Vancouver ion Google Maps. Looks like mostly single houses. That needs to go if you want low house prices.

[sgt101]

Yes, this. Six story 2x apartments per story + shared community space per 4 blocks = 48 units vs 4 units. The density also supports and drives community resources like shops, pubs, doctors and schools and makes public transport feasible. No need for 20 floor monsters.