The point is that this is not normal market fluctuation. Demand driven through speculation puts pressure on the residents of each city, that eventually prices them out of the market entirely. Not long ago, the impact of foreign residential investment was said to be contained to Vancouver and Toronto, but we have seen expansion to Calgary and Edmonton (not to mention resort towns), and now into Saskatoon and Montreal. This is an issue becoming a national concern very quickly.
Yes, major impact.
As for cratering home value in places like Vancouver, there is no doubt that the market is overvalued right now. There are ways to ease prices into normalcy without cratering. How about doubling or tripling property tax for foreign residential investment across the country, to slow down investment and help the infrastructure of the cities themselves directly?
One potential issue that we can get ahead of, instead of reacting to, that was a throw away mention in this article...
Quote:
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PwC says foreign investors are also likely to start snatching up medical clinics and other real estate in the health-care sector, which is expected to benefit from Canada's large population of aging baby boomers.
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... is this an issue that we want to be dealing with in an already strained health care sector?