THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Interest from China in Vancouver real estate listings worth more than $1 million is down sharply, but local buyers shouldn?t get too excited.
The B.C. government?s new 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers of homes in Vancouver would so far seem to be having the intended effect: cooling demand from deep-pocketed mainland Chinese investors who are blamed for contributing to soaring prices. But some industry data suggest the trend, assuming it holds, could actually make it more difficult?not easier?for locals to gain a foothold in Canada?s most unaffordable housing market.
Searches for Vancouver properties on the popular Chinese-language property portal Juwai.com have fallen by nearly 10 per cent since the controversial new tax went into effect Aug. 2, according to Juwai?s president of the Americas, Matthew Moore. But the decline is being driven mostly by a 55 per cent drop in searches for homes listed for more than $1 million (which, admittedly, doesn?t get you more than a mouldy teardown in many Vancouver neighbourhoods these days). Meanwhile, Chinese property inquiries in the sub-$1 million category, including condos and single family homes elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, are actually up by eight per cent over the same period. In other words, the tax may be curbing foreigners? interest in Vancouver?s priciest ?hoods and pushing them into more affordable areas where they?re more likely to compete with budget-conscio...