A condo project by a developer who has long denied the impact of foreign buyers on Metro Vancouver’s housing market has gone on sale in Hong Kong.
Pre-sales buyers in Hong Kong will get deep discounts and rental guarantees for Domus Homes’s Ovation project in New Westminster 1 at an exclusive two-day sales event this weekend.
Domus Homes’s owner Richard Wittstock has vociferously denied there’s significant offhsore buyer activity in the regions real estate market, labelling talk of foreign buyers as just a “smokescreen” used by “NIMBY” (Not In My Backyard) residents to stop or delay development2.
Foreign buyers are largely used as a smokescreen by those that wish for development to slow or stop. We have the data, it’s now widely known that foreigners comprise less than 5% of the market. Many of these are in the process of relocating here to help build our economy.
— Richard Wittstock (@rwittstock) November 18, 2017
“Foreign buyers are largely used as a smokescreen by those that wish for development to slow or stop,” Wittstock tweeted. “We have the data, it’s now widely known that foreigners comprise less than 5% of the market. Many of these are in the process of relocating here to help build our economy.”
Wittstock also claims he has not sold his units to offshore buyers since 2008, and that they play no part in his business.
“A lot of people don’t want more supply,” Wittstock tweeted. “I couldn’t care less about foreign buyers,they’ve never been a factor in my business.”
Richard Wittstock, who has been fined and reprimanded by BC’s real estate watchdog on numerous occasions for misconduct –– including lying on his real estate licence renewal application form3 –– has emerged as a hero for the “YIMBY” (Yes In My Backyard) movement, who also deny that foreign buyers are causing housing unaffordability in the Lower Mainland want to see all areas of Vancouver opened up for market development.
Hence all of he problems we find ourselves in BC by allowing these abuses and comodifIcation of basic housing putting it out of reach of local Canadians
.foreign ownership should be banned for those that do not live ,work and pay taxes in BC .
Utter gutterslop …!
Offshore buyer laundering money in Canadian real estate and not paying any income taxes while family lives in Canada and Mr works in Asia ..The rest of Canada is picking up the costs through their increased taxes .
Foreign buyers should be banned out right …should only be able to buy after becoming a landed immigrant or Canadian citizen that lives and works in Canada.