Big news has emerged from British Columbia, where the government has been criticized for not doing more to address the housing affordability crisis.
"Foreign buyers of Metro Vancouver real estate will be taxed an additional 15 per cent, the government announced Monday in new legislation," according to an article by Rob Shaw.
"The tax would increase the property transfer tax on non-Canadian citizens or non-permanent residents purchasing homes. It would begin Aug. 2 and apply to all residential property in Metro Vancouver, excluding the Tsawwassen First Nation," adds Shaw.
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is quoted in the article describing the need for the new tax:
There is evidence now that suggests that very wealthy foreign buyers have raised the price of overall housing for people in British Columbia. If we are going to put British Columbians first, and that is what we are intending to do, we need to make sure that we do everything we can to try and keep houses affordable and try to make sure those very wealthy foreign buyers find it a little bit harder to buy a house in the Greater Vancouver area.
The bill also allows the city to tax vacant homes.
Read the full story: Premier unveils foreign buyers tax on Metro Vancouver real estate
Fast-Rising Rents: Cause or Effect of Institutional Real Estate Investors?
More media attention for the growing influence of large, institutional investors on the housing market.
U.S. Home Sales to Foreign Buyers Drop by Almost 10 Percent
International purchases of homes on the U.S. housing market slowed in the last year.
U.S. Housing Least Affordable in History
American households are spending more of their income on housing than at any other point in recorded history.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
California city breaks ground on transit connector
The project includes three mobility hubs and a pedestrian bridge.
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
40 years after approval, Chicago breaks ground on new park
The park honors Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city’s first permanent non-native settler.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority