Are you suggesting that developers build stuff for people that will buy it?
Stop the presses! Forget about the Theory of Relativity, what you just outlined is revolutionary thinking!!! Wow!
Imagine someone investing in something that will make money based on demand.
You...you are going places kiddo!
Can you also share your knowledge about how that thing they call "fire" works? And then if you have a couple extra minutes, that round thing they call a "wheel".
Sorry if that takes you away from your deep-thinking time.
Yes, you are making his point!
The developers built what the market demands. And the highest market demand was from foreign investors and REITS/investor groups, who bought these housing units as capital preservation/gain type investments, not as housing. No intention to rent them. Just a place to park or place money for foreign owners who see Canadian real estate as the safest bet to park some of their estate. Or investment management companies who seek individuals to invest in Real Estate backed investment funds, earning a healthy commission and ongoing management fees in the process.
And while that seems all fine and dandy, it has created two undesirable outcomes.
1. A shortage of housing units available to occupy because the investment was always intended as a capital preservation or long term (or short term flip) capital investment. These foreign and investment fund buyers never even thought of rental income. They didn't think of nor were diissuaded from or about troublesome tenants, Professionally managed rentals have very low rates of default as the tenants are screened and there are procedures in place to immediately bring specific actions into play whenever rent is not paid or other problems arise. As opposed to mom and pop investors who try to afford an investment they can only afford IF their tenants pay on time and tey have NO other problems. And when they do, they have no idea how the LTB works and tend to believe the sob stories or threats of professiional fraudster tenants.
So these "housing units" may as well be investments in pork belly futures for all they have to do with housing.
2. This gold rush has created a separate economy and currency within our country. The money you earn from work and buy groceries, car, clothes etc with and the housing economy. Where it is no longer possible for a family earning $100,000k to save enough after tax to save for a down payment, then qualify for or afford a million dollar home. So unless you got in earlier, have parents to lend or give you sufficient cash for a down payment, or an inheritance, the dream of buying your own home by a decent , normal job is not a reality.
3. Therefore, those people are stuck in the rental housing market. Increased demand for a pretty much finite (see capital investors above) number of rental housing units has led to increasing rents.
My rough, not fully fleshed out, solution would be to ban ownership of Canadian property from non-resident foreign nationals. There are plenty of countries that you have to be a citizen of to own real property. After all, we are selling off the land of our country to foreign interests.
Toronto's Vacant Home tax is a good start. As are Federal an evolving system of taxing capital gains on foregn nationals and withholding taxes at the lawyer level. Provincial tax disincentives like those in BC to try to get a hold on the tidal wave of foerign investment that has caused housing to run completely out of control and resulted in very low rental opportunities.
Heck skoob, your idol Trump purpose built his gold plated gaudy condos
specifically to attract wealthy Russians to launder and park the money they stole from their fellow Russian countrymen. This sites could have been used to create smaller, less expensive and attainable stable housing for his "base". Not saying anyone shouldn't invest and/or pay less tax within the laws etc ... but this is a root cause of our housing crisis.
Another solution would be to allow single family homes of a certain size to have basement apartments or small in-law suites as a matter of right, and over riding the existing zoning by laws prohibiting them.
Just some thoughts, not cut and dried.
