The dataset consists of all single detached properties, townhouses, and condos that were bought and relisted within 12 months in Metro Vancouver since March 15, 2020.
We checked the occupancy status of each listing at the time the flipper bought it and at the time the flipper put it back on the market. We consider listings where the occupancy status changed from tenanted to something other than tenanted, in most cases vacant, as evidence of an eviction.
The practice of property flipping appears to contribute to the housing insecurity. Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called house flipping as “predatory” and promised a flipping tax during the last election campaign1. But the “flipping tax” introduced by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in the budget on Thursday is nothing more than the rebranding2 of an existing CRA rule, and is unlikely to decentivize speculation in the property market.