Vancouver affordability crisis might scare away investors – report

Grossly inflated home prices, supply scarcity, and elevated tax rates are making Vancouver less than appealing to millennial buyers and investors

Vancouver’s affordability crisis does not seem to be abating any time soon, and if the results of a recent study are any indication, up-and-coming investors in the labour and business sectors might find the prospect of putting their money in the high-demand city less than enticing.
 
As reported by The Canadian Press, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade released on May 18 the latest evaluation conducted by the Conference Board of Canada, which placed Vancouver at a weak ninth in an assessment of key economic and social indicators of major metropolitan areas around the world.
 
The city took a major hit in its residential real estate affordability index, measuring to just a paltry “D” in the study’s metrics.
 
“Anyone contemplating a move to the region faces exorbitant housing costs. This limits the region's attraction to younger people who could represent its future,” the report stated.
 
Other factors that are hurting the city’s appeal to millennial buyers and investors are land and supply scarcity along with relatively high tax rates.
 
Vancouver homes have seen the sharpest growth in benchmark and average prices in the country, although the latest reports from industry observers have found that sales volume in the region has slowed down over the past year.