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The Ideology and Politics of Foreign Real Estate Investment in Vancouver 2008 - 2018 The making of a middle class housing crisis: the ideology and politics of foreign real estate investment in Vancouver 2008 - 2018 by Maria Wallstam B.Sc., Uppsala University, 2012 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Geography Faculty of Environment © Maria Wallstam 2019 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2019 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Maria Wallstam Degree: Master of Geography Title: The making of a middle class housing crisis: the ideology and politics of foreign real estate investment in Vancouver 2008 - 2018 Examining Committee: Chair: Rosemary Collard Assistant Professor Department of Geography Geoff Mann Senior Supervisor Professor Department of Geography, _________________________________________ Simon Fraser University Elvin Wyly Committee Member Professor Department of Geography, ________________________________________ University of British Columbia Lisa Freeman External Examiner Faculty Member Criminology Department _________________________________________ Kwantlen Polytechnic Date Defended/Approved: August 2nd 2019 ii Abstract This study examines the ideological and structural factors that underpinned the politicization of foreign investment in real estate in Vancouver between 2008 and 2018. In the span of a couple of years, foreign investment in real estate emerged from obscurity to become the dominant explanation of the housing crisis, and one of the most pressing political issues in British Columbia. Based on a content analysis of news articles and secondary literature, this paper argues that the focus on foreign property investment shifted the public discourse about the housing crisis toward homeownership issues, and the experiences and needs of middle-class residents. It created a binary between deserving and undeserving homeowners along class and race lines, and constructed speculation as foreign, rather than as an inherent part of the local capitalist real estate economy. Key terms: foreign real estate investment; homeownership; housing; Vancouver iii Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures..................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background .............................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Research questions ................................................................................................. 3 1.3. Recent literature ....................................................................................................... 4 1.4. Outline ...................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2. Methodology ................................................................................................ 7 2.1. Theorizing Communication Power........................................................................... 7 2.1.1. Media, representation and power ..................................................................... 7 2.1.2. Media effects: Agenda setting, priming and framing ....................................... 9 2.2. Methodological framework ..................................................................................... 13 2.2.1. Research sample ............................................................................................ 13 2.2.2. Content analysis ............................................................................................. 16 Chapter 3. Historical context ...................................................................................... 18 3.1. The advent of the Business Immigration program ................................................ 18 3.2. Austerity, trade liberalization and Canadian survival ............................................ 20 3.3. Against ‘Monster homes’ ....................................................................................... 25 3.4. Fantasy of a white nation ....................................................................................... 28 Chapter 4. Foreign investment in real estate ........................................................... 33 4.1. Foreign investment emerges as a problem ........................................................... 33 4.1.1. Let the property games begin......................................................................... 33 4.1.2. Homelessness and empty homes .................................................................. 38 4.1.3. Luxury real estate tours and planeloads of overseas buyers ....................... 40 4.1.4. Anecdotal information consolidates ............................................................... 42 4.1.5. Investor immigrants and the end of Euro-American hegemony .................... 45 4.1.6. Empty Condos and a brief turn toward affordability ....................................... 48 4.2. Housing and class.................................................................................................. 53 4.2.1. #donthave1million and middle class discontent ............................................. 53 4.2.2. Jeopardizing the ‘Canadian Dream’ .............................................................. 56 4.2.3. Educated, hard working and deserving .......................................................... 60 4.3. Race and real estate .............................................................................................. 67 4.3.1. Racism and resentment toward foreign buyers ............................................ 67 4.3.2. The uneven effects of nativism ...................................................................... 70 4.4. The problem with foreign investment .................................................................... 74 4.4.1. Foreign money and “capitalism in one country” ............................................. 74 iv 4.4.2. Land banking, speculation and flipping ......................................................... 76 4.4.3. 'Hot' Chinese money triggers alarm bells ....................................................... 80 4.5. Foreign investment debate heats up ..................................................................... 83 4.5.1. Shadow flipping ............................................................................................. 83 4.5.2. Giving British Columbians first and best crack at buying homes................... 86 Chapter 5. Conclusion................................................................................................. 90 References ....................................................................................................................... 94 v List of Tables Table 2.1 Number of articles in initial search sample and final study sample ......... 14 Table 2.2. Number of articles in study sample sorted by type of article ................... 15 Table 2.3. Number of articles in study sample sorted by section of newspaper....... 15 Table 4.1. Housing types mentioned in study sample of articles in Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail, January 2008 - January 2018. ......................... 58 Table 4.2. Housing issues mentioned in study sample of articles in Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail, January 2008 - January 2018. ........................ 59 vi List of Figures Figure 4.1. Benchmark prices for single family dwellings and apartments for The greater Vancouver region, January 2005 – January 2012 ....................... 35 Figure 4.2. Number of articles about homelessness and affordability in Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail, January 2001 – January 2018. ................ 38 Figure 4.3. Number of articles in initial search sample about foreign property investment and affordability in Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail, January 2008 – January 2018 .................................................................. 41 Figure 4.4. Benchmark prices for single family dwellings and apartments for the greater Vancouver region, January 2008 – January 2017 ....................... 53 Figure 4.5. Frequency of social groups mentioned in study sample of articles in Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail, January 2008 – January 2018. ................................................................................................................... 61 Figure 4.6. Percent of Metro Vancouver real estate sales to foreign nationals according to the Ministry of Finance, August 2016 – December 2017…. vii Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1. Background The aim of this project is to identify the ideas and structural factors that politicized foreign investment in real estate in B.C. between 2008 and 2018, and to explore the political consequences of foreign investment
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