Real Estate

Poll: Housing Crisis

Proposed measures to stabilize B.C.'s property market may not be popular throughout the province, but Lower Mainland residents largely support them, according to a poll from Mustel Group for BCBusiness. In March, when Mustel asked 501 residents of Metro Vancouver their opinion on the subject, 75 percent were in favour.

By The Editors /

Credit:

Courtesy of the City of Vancouver

Proposed measures to stabilize B.C.’s property market may not be popular throughout the province, but Lower Mainland residents largely support them, according to a poll from Mustel Group for BCBusiness. In March, when Mustel asked 501 residents of Metro Vancouver their opinion on the subject, 75 percent were in favour. “There may be some tweaking needed on some of the measures such as the speculation tax, but I think overall you can see quite strong support,” says principal Evi Mustel.

The preamble: The B.C. NDP government’s 2018 budget includes several measures intended to curb speculation in the real estate market and make housing more affordable for residents. Among them is an expanded foreign buyer’s tax (from 15 to 20 percent and covering more areas), a new speculation tax, a crackdown on property transaction loopholes, a commitment to build 114,000 affordable homes and greater renter protections.