By Florence Hwang,
Special to The Post

In a statement post-affordable housing rally dated June 1, 2015, Eveline Xia of Vancouverites for Affordable Housing, implored the three levels of government in BC to step up and help those who need help the most in terms of social housing.
Not only does she call on the leaders to fund co-op housing, but that they also provide a National Housing Strategy which directly addresses the globalization of Canada’s real estate.
“I will repeat a statement from the rally (held earlier in June), which is on the minds of many people in Vancouver: "How can average hard-working people be expected to compete for homes with the globe's millionaires and billionaires?" Just as the problem has global roots, we need to also look globally for solutions,” writes Xia.
The Insights West poll released recently shows just how strong public support for government action is, and this support includes a majority of homeowners, she notes.
As an example, she points out that the Hong Kong government provides subsidized housing for four million people - more than half the population.
“What those cities and leaders have understood is that good, adequate housing is not just a commodity, but a human and community need. Please consider these amazing examples before believing that change is impossible,” writes Xia.
While she acknowledged Premier Christy Clark’s stance on being committing to researching possible solutions to the affordability crisis, Xia points out that basing policy on informal surveys by the CMHC and anecdotal statements from real estate agents was not good enough. Instead she asks the provincial government to begin collecting comprehensive data on foreign ownership and capital.
On May 22, Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson wrote a letter to Premier Christy Clark regarding affordable housing.
In the letter, he suggests the province could generate more new housing units that are more affordable for lower and middle income taxpayers.  He notes that even a “sharp correction in the housing market won’t enable opportunities for people to rent or buy without an increase in supply of housing geared to low and middle incomes.”
Robertson also suggested that he and Clark work together to call for more housing from the federal government.
The Vancouver mayor went on to propose setting measures, such as:
• Increased property tax on the most expensive properties, with proceeds put back into affordable housing.
• Taxation measures to discourage flipping of new houses to help reduce speculation and help level the playing field for first-time buyers.
“Our generation had the good fortune to enter the housing market at the beginning of a long, steady climb in housing prices. We have a responsibility to ensure that the next generation can share in the benefits, and have the opportunity to pursue their aspirations right here in B.C.,” wrote Robertson in his letter to the premier.
In response, Premier Clark wrote to Robertson that the City of Vancouver could better use their land, lower fees and levis for new homes as means to create more affordable housing.
Clark did not like Robertson’s suggestion to tax the most expensive houses.
“Driving down the cost of housing by just 10 per cent would mean a family with a home currently worth $800,000, could lose $80,000 in equity in their home. That could put some homeowners with large mortgages into negative equity,” she wrote in her letter, which was circulated to various news outlets.
The mayor pointed out in his letter that the city has set aside $61 million in this year’s capital plan to invest in housing and to support its affordable housing agency.

Global housing market comparisons

Ian Young writes a blog called the Hongcouver for the South China Morning Post.
“The subtext is that Vancouver’s pampered millennials should stop whining about the fact that their city’s real estate is now the second-least affordable in the world. Sometimes it’s not even the subtext. Sometimes it’s the actual text,” he writes in his post about Vancouver’s housing crises not being like anywhere else.
Young says unaffordability is up 100 per cent in Vancouver since 2005 – which no other world city can compare with. The closest city is Auckland, New Zealand, which had a 39 per cent hike.
“In Sydney, it’s only up 11 per cent. In San Francisco, it’s up 16 per cent. New York’s unaffordability has actually decreased 14 per cent, and London’s multiple is only up by 2 per cent (compared to 2006),” writes Young.
Young attempts to answer why Hong Kong and Vancouver have had such an unusual decade by factoring in the wealthy foreign buyers. From 2005 to 2012, Vancouver attracted about 45,000 rich migrants, mostly from China, under wealth-determined schemes, more than any other city in the world.
In Hong Kong, in 2012, luxury sales to mainland Chinese buyers had soared to the extent that they accounted for 47 per cent of the entire value of all new home sales, according to the Centaline agency.
“In late 2012, the Hong Kong government responded by imposing a hefty 15 per cent  tax on sales to foreign buyers (incuding mainland Chinese). That cooled things, but Chinese luxury buying is back on the rise, and in 2014 accounted for 25.4 per cent of the new-home market,” wrote Young.