An overwhelming majority of Lower Mainland residents believe the B.C. government made the right decision imposing a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax
Jeff Lee
The Vancouver Sun
An overwhelming majority of Lower Mainland residents believe the B.C. government made the right decision imposing a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax, a new public opinion poll suggests.
Ninety per cent of those polled by the Angus Reid Institute say they support B.C.’s new tax, which would apply to foreigners purchasing real estate in the Metro Vancouver area. And 87 per cent say they also support the move to give local governments the power to tax owners who leave their properties vacant.
The poll was an online survey of 737 Metro Vancouver adults who are members of the Angus Reid forum.
The poll shows 82 per cent of respondents believe the government failed to act fast enough to curb the white-hot housing market.
In June 2015, Premier Christy Clark pointedly rejected an appeal from Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson for an extraordinary tax to cool speculation.
And up until a week ago, the province maintained there was little evidence significant foreign money was flowing into Metro Vancouver’s housing market. It now says at least 10 per cent of homes are being bought by non-residents.
The poll also shows that 71 per cent of respondents are pessimistic about the long-term value of the new tax, believing that affected buyers will figure out a way to skirt it.
Strikingly, four in 10 respondents also think that neither the new property purchase tax nor Vancouver’s proposed vacancy tax will improve housing affordability or access to more rental housing.
“There is a big question mark in the minds of the people of this region over whether or not these measures, while significant, will actually be effective,” said Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute.
The high level of public support is in direct contrast to the Liberal government’s long-standing resistance to bringing in the tax, she said.
“We know that as far back as a year ago, and probably even further back, people in this region were clamouring for government action on this issue,” she said, noting that the government suggested “there was no story here” when a June 2015 poll showed “people were screaming for government action.”
Now the government has swung in the other direction.
“In bringing in these measures, it is a sign I think that the provincial government recognized it was politically vulnerable on this issue and it is releasing a pressure valve by bringing in these measures,” she said.
Whether the tax, which is due to come into effect on Aug. 2, will cool the market is unclear. But some potential homebuyers see it as a useful exercise. One of those is Jonathan Ross, a young Vancouver lawyer.
“Will this make a difference? I don’t really know,” said Ross, who lives near the long delayed Little Mountain redevelopment. “It frustrates me as somebody who is completely priced out of the single family market that we can’t afford to buy in the area.”
The Angus Reid poll revealed a divide between what homeowners and renters hope will happen in the Metro Vancouver market. More than 53 per cent of owners — who have a vested interest in the equity in their homes — hope housing prices continue to increase or at least stay where they are. Only 22 per cent said they hope prices will fall by 30 per cent or more. Conversely, nearly three-quarters of renters hope prices fall by 30 per cent or more, illustrating their desire to become new homebuyers.
The poll also showed a high percentage of those polled (65) believe foreigners investing in the local market are responsible for the region’s housing misery.
Other reasons cited:
- Wealthy people investing in the real estate market — 41 per cent.
- Condos and houses being left empty by investor-owners — 37 per cent.
- Lack of government action on housing — 33 per cent.
Yet when it comes to the effect the new property purchase tax or tax on vacant homes will have on people, most polled were either ambivalent or feel it will help them. Fifty-six per cent of homeowners and 39 per cent of renters said the new purchase tax was neither good nor bad news to them. A majority of renters (56 per cent) said the tax was good news. The government’s decision to re-regulate the real estate industry and to also use money from the property purchase tax to ease affordability issues also drew high marks. Eighty-one per cent felt it would be effective or highly effective for the province to no longer allow the B.C. real estate industry to regulate and police itself. And slightly less than three-quarters of respondents supported the idea of once again collecting sales data to track real estate purchases by foreigners.
On whether the new measures are enough, the majority of those polled weren’t satisfied. Only three per cent said the taxes were adequate, with 71 per cent saying it was a step in the right direction.
“This is short-term approval, but nobody thinks this is enough,” Kurl said.
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