[Ensorceled]

Yeah, the article just assumes that a) money laundering via real estate is happening, b) it is increasing prices and then c) is trying to explain the logic behind it. But the title is misleading because the never actually establishes a) and b) ... it just meanders around in c)

[itsoktocry]

>Yeah, the article just assumes that a) money laundering via real estate is happening

Sort of like how people are walking into BC casinos with half a million dollars in $20 bills and authorities are being told not to ask questions? Yeah, we don't "know" there's money laundering, but reasonable people ask questions...

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/rcmp-detachment-head-w...

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/virtually-no-controls-...

[Ensorceled]

Oh, I'm very, very sure money laundering is happening in BC. I'm certain money laundering via real estate is happening all over Canada; Chinese investors are buying abandoned farm land in Northern Ontario for some reason.

[itsoktocry]

I agree, and frankly I understand why Chinese people want to get here. It's a great place!

But we can't have vast sums of capital, of unknown origin, flooding our country and pricing out our own citizens.

[Ensorceled]

Agreed. We definitely need New Zealand style property ownership laws, this is getting out of hand.

[eisbaar]

I'm not sure the former owners of the houses would agree. They made good money from the houses they sold to Chinese people. Is that necessarily a bad thing?

[Ensorceled]

Yes, it is a bad thing. Many of those condos and homes are now empty, raising housing prices on families and making effective city planning impossible.

[eisbaar]

I'm not convinced. If Chinese investors buy properties unseen, you could build lots of cheap apartments and sell them for lots of money. Sure it would be wasteful for a while, but in the end a lot of money would have flown to Canada, and presumably at some point the madness would stop.

I'm guessing regulation is the real problem, as it is so often.

Even if foreign investors let houses sit empty, the rising prices should be an incentive to build more houses, leading to more supply of housing eventually.

Speculation is after all a bet on future demand, and useful for anticipating future demand.

[pchristensen]

No, but it is a tragedy of the commons situation - the individuals make out like bandits while the social capital is drawn down.

[barbecue_sauce]

Do they really "want to get" there? Don't they just buy the assets and leave them unoccupied?

[Ensorceled]

It's a combination of getting cash out of China etc. and having a safety bolt hole.

[itsoktocry]

>Do they really "want to get" there? Don't they just buy the assets and leave them unoccupied?

I'm sure it's both, and it's really hard to determine in advance.