One-third of all condos in Richmond are considered “investment properties” by Statistics Canada.
Of the 32,240 condos in Richmond, 10,980, or 34.1 per cent, are owned as investments, according to a report from Statistics Canada released on Thursday.
This is slightly lower, however, than the average in the Vancouver Metropolitan Area, where 34.2 per cent of condos were considered investment properties.
But only 12.7 per cent of single-detached homes, a total of 2,940, are considered investments, out of a total of 23,170 single-detached homes in Richmond.
Statistics Canada flagged some cities in Ontario, such as London and Windsor, where condos were 85.5 per cent and 64.4 per cent, respectively, of properties were classified as investments.
StatsCan noted a potential explanation was that some large condo buildings were owned entirely by one business and run like a rental building. This was possible due to tax incentives in some Ontario cities.
John Roston, coordinator for the Richmond Rental Housing Advocacy Group, noted the median square footage of investor-owned Richmond condos has shrunk over the years.
“The conclusion, in our view, is that Richmond condos are getting smaller when we need them to get bigger to accommodate the families most in need and that a sizeable proportion of the people who purchase them have a strong motive for a rapid rise in purchase prices and eviction of tenants when they do,” Roston wrote in a letter to Richmond mayor and council.
“Pre-zoning land for rental housing keeps land purchase costs low enough that market rental housing developers can afford to buy it and they have a motive to build larger apartments to meet the strong demand for them,” he added.
Furthermore, he suggested the city should buy land that can be leased for “the construction of low-income rental housing that is financed by higher levels of government.”
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