Maddog's wry look at economics, history, society, culture, and politics

The Vancouver housing price collapse: The government giveth and the government taketh away

8/3/2016

"The Deals Are Collapsing" - Vancouver's Housing Bubble Has Burst

The government created this housing bubble by limiting land available for development, in a country which is all land an pretty much no people. This was an obvious form of insanity. So once the price of housing began to rise at Ludicrous Speed, the government panicked, and acted to hit the brakes. I do not know if this will result in a serious collapse, but it very well could. There are many other places in the US, even on the West Coast which have homes which would suit Chinese buyer's needs.

I suggest taking a wait and see attitude, but I suspect this has significantly altered the housing price market in Vancouver, BC. It is always a bad idea to allow the local government power over land prices through urban growth boundaries, zoning and other similar mechanisms. The politicians, and the bureaucrats have no idea what they are doing, and giving them this power will nearly always result in a bad to terrible outcome.

Let's hope this law permanently drives down the price of housing, and then the Vancouverites take back control of their land use rule from the politicians, and bureaucrats. Don't worry I am not holding my breath.

The Vancouver housing market is unique it only responds to demand, not supply!

The Vancouver housing market is white hot: Collapse is imminent

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The Portlandification of Martha's Vineyard

8/2/2016

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Don’t Cry for Martha’s Vineyard | The Antiplanner

The Urban Growth Boundary is always the problem. Price is dependent on both supply, and demand, here supply is limited so land becomes highly valuable, and only wealthier people can afford to purchase that land. The outcome is obvious and should have been expected.

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Ireland walks back the Urban Growth Boundary concept!

7/29/2016

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Ireland Adopts Plan to Increase Housing Supply and Improve Housing Affordability | Newgeography.com

This is a refreshing article, since it means that Ireland has realized that Urban Growth Boundary's are the primary cause of unaffordable housing. Ireland has decided " . . . accelerate the release of land for new development, especially in making government owned land available for development."

This is exactly what must happen to move housing from unaffordable to affordable. Progressives find this impossible to understand, and, so, continue to pursue UGB policies which lead to more unaffordability, when they profess they want less affordability.

Good on Ireland.

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The Vancouver housing market is unique it only responds to demand, not supply!

7/27/2016

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Foreign buyers are fueling the Vancouver housing bubble

The headline turns first year economics on its head.

More below the fold.

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It's not the zoning, it's the Urban Growth/Service Boundary laws

7/26/2016

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The Antiplanner | Dedicated to the sunset of government planning

Didn't I just write about this a few days ago?

The cause of the Housing Crisis is government

When is the problem not government?

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The cause of the Housing Crisis is government

7/25/2016

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"We've been blaming America's 'new housing crisis' on the wrong thing all along"

They think the culprit is zoning, but . . .

More after the break.

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The Vancouver housing market is white hot: Collapse is imminent

7/18/2016

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Vancouver’s real estate is ‘fuelled by a money laundering bubble’: Market analyst

"There is no denying that the real estate market in Vancouver is red hot – prices have been rising with no end in sight.

More after the break.

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Gee, the Clown College held a meeting and I missed it!

6/30/2016

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Gee, the Clown College held a meeting and I missed it!

Portland Addresses Housing Crisis By Making Housing More Expensive | The Antiplanner

Unsurprisingly, they did something really stupid. Housing affordability is an issue in Portland, the solution is simple, allow land development. The Unafordability is driven by the lack of developable land due to the Urban Growth Boundary, and zoning practices.

The corralling Portlandia City Counsel inanity can be an exercise in strategy:

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Were gonna need a lot more low density living space!

6/23/2016

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New York Subway: Success or Failure? | The Antiplanner

The New York transit system is one of the few successful transit system in the country. Still it recovers less than 50% of costs from riders. The rest comes from taxpayers most of whom don't use the system. It is also over crowded during rush hour commuting.

More below the fold.

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