Canada says goodbye to Chinese investors

I used to live in Victoria BC. I found it a beautiful city, and on one of the back burners of my overworked mind it’s always been a retirement option for me to consider. Kind of a long way from my folks here in Ontario, but other than that, it has an awful lot going for it.

The climate, for example. When I lived there they had their first winter snow in seven years. That’s winter snow, not winter storm… and yes, it was probably my fault. But they just don’t ever have the nuts-freezing cold snaps that leave snot icicles hanging off your face, if you know what I mean. And after the last week around here, you can see where Victoria might be attractive.

Price wise it’s not too bad either. A downtown condo is cheaper than a downtown condo in Guelph, and about half the price of a downtown condo in Toronto. Not that I ever see myself in a downtown condo anywhere, but those numbers are a good gauge of the state of the market.

What I saw today was a lot of stuff for sale, and of the stuff for sale, a lot of adverts let you know that the listing price was well below assessed value. That tells you something.

The something it tells you is that the bloom is off the west coast real estate rose. If you recall, the unsustainable rise in housing prices over the last few years was largely blamed on Chinese investors. The BC government responded by putting a modest house tax (a HOUSE tax; not a head tax) on those Chinese. That slowed the spiralling market.

But it looks to me like the fabulous own goals that Justin and Chrystia keep scoring have absolutely put the brakes to it.

And I can see why.

On the plus side, if the market slides just a little more, I’ll be able to swap my hundred acres here in the Bruce for a nice character home in Oak Bay.

I’d be OK with that.