BC Business
The next wave of foreign property buyers may be from the U.S. and Britain. Google Trends shows interest in moving to Canada is at an all-time high as recent political events make Americans and Brits take a renewed interest in Canada. (The Economist)
Realtors are pitching Vancouver and Toronto as safe property havens. Thanks to Brexit, London no longer looks like such a safe bet for investing foreign capital. In the last decade, central London saw the biggest increase in residential property prices of any major city as the favoured destination for global capital seeking a stable sanctuary. (Bloomberg)
Is regulation of real estate agents really the answer to Vancouver’s real estate crisis? Two B.C. academics don’t think so. They say rising property prices are mainly caused by lack of housing supply, high demand, an inflow of foreign capital and low interest rates. (Globe and Mail)
Real estate is driving the Canadian economy. Thanks to hot housing markets in B.C. and Toronto, real estate activity was the biggest year-over-year contributor to growth in April 2016 and contributed nearly one-third of Canada’s annual GDP growth. (BNN) Does restricting real estate development affect the economy? A growing body of economic literature suggests that anti-growth sentiment, when multiplied across countless unheralded local development battles, is a major factor in creating a stagnant and less equal American economy. (New York Times)