1. I’m on hols but I’m seeing a lot of talk here about racism and #VanRe. I’ll keep it brief. Of course, it makes zero difference whether the frn $ buying YVR homes is Chinese, American or from outer space /2
2. To suggest otherwise is racist, IMO. But to understand the causes of the inflows, and maybe mitigate them, it is VITAL to understand that these flows overwhelmingly come from greater China.
3. BC confirmed this with first set of frn buyer stats in mid-2016. 90% were mainland Chinese. And for comparison: zero were Americans
4. To understand the inflows we need to understand Chinese motivations, policies and circumstances that drive/drove them. That isn’t racist. It’s common sense
5. The impact of ANY frn buyer using frn funds to buy in YVR is the same as any other, regardless of whether they be Chinese, Americans, whatever. The causes, scale of Chine inflows versus other frn $? Vastly different
6. YVR has attracted tens of thousands of frn-funded millionaires as wealth-determined immigrants. This is as much a characteristic of modern YVR as Stanley Park or the Canucks. And yes, overwhelmingly they came from greater China. Some Korea. Some Iran. Very mostly China
7. Their money went into real estate. Not much else. Businesses and non-RE investment? Minimal. Why? Because the circumstances and skill sets that forged the ginormous population of millionaires in China were, generally speaking, not translatable to Canada
8. The economic transformation of China, and the biggest transfer of public assets into private wealth in modern history made many people rich. So did the subsequent explosion of Chinese middle class, consumerism, etc. But you can’t duplicate that in, say, Richmond or Point Grey
9. The impact on YVR? Chinese money arrives and lands in housing. The skills and opportunities that made it do not, and are not translated into local jobs, business or non RE investment. YVR prices are further decoupled from local incomes. And that’s a big part of unaffordability
10. PS: so, who or what to ‘blame’? Millionaires gonna millionaire. Don’t be a racist asshole and confuse millionaireness for Chineseness. Blame local govt policies and policy makers, ignorant and willfully blind, who encouraged it all
