BC Business
Winter resort giant Vail Resorts Inc. will buy Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. for $1.39-billion. The sale supports Whistler Blackcomb’s plans to build new facilities and accommodations that protect against the vagaries of winter weather. Vail’s sophisticated marketing engine and wide network of customers was an important part of the deal because it will bring new customers to B.C. (The Globe and Mail)
B.C.’s 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers may prompt legal action. The new tax will derail more than 400 home purchases worth millions of dollars, plus it violates several treaties and agreements that Canada holds with at least 28 other countries, including the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to one international legal expert. (Bloomberg)
When price is no object: $100 million mansions. Christie’s International Real Estate, which compiles the Luxury Defined report, has drawn up a list of international properties currently on the market for more than $100 million each. Topping the chart is a 100,000-square-foot Bel Air estate listed for $500 million. (Mail Online)
Two-thirds of Metro Vancouver renters are unhappy: poll. Insights West found that renters in Metro Vancouver are mostly young, disappointed and dissatisfied with their position.The main drawback outlined by dissatisfied renters is cost (42 per cent). Homeowners may be worried about meeting mortgage payments, but renters don’t have the value of their home as something to fall back on when money gets tight. (Vancouver Sun)
People want to buy because renting sucks. U.K. writer John Elledge suggests giving up on home ownership and make renting better. The British fetish for home ownership isn’t simply a matter of snobbery, or even financial planning: it’s a practical response to the fact that the private rental sector is awful, he says, noting that in Germany, tenants’ rights are so strong that it’s possible to live your whole life in a rented home without feeling insecure. (The Guardian)