The Editor,
Re: “A house divided,” News, Aug. 13,
I do worry about what the future holds for Generation X and Y who continue living in Richmond and throughout the Lower Mainland. The current housing trends are not sustainable for a healthy city.
The excuse that the free market is simply “playing itself out” is a cop-out. Lack of regulation, foresight and the lure of quick monetary gain have all been the driving forces which have changed the social and economic fabric of Richmond and the entire Lower Mainland.
According to the 2010 National Housing Survey, Richmond was listed as the “poorest” city in the Lower Mainland with an annual median family income of $69,553. At the same time, the median price for a single-detached house in Richmond hit a million dollars. These two figures are completely out of step with one another.
Sure, cities like New York, San Francisco and Seattle are all expensive as well, but at least their median incomes are more accurately reflected in the housing prices.
The local politicians and those in the real estate industry wish to downplay or ignore the influence the international wealthy has had on the community, usually passing it off with “Of course it’s expensive. It’s a great city with splendid mountain scenery! Who wouldn’t want to live here?!” rhetoric.
With so many people mortgaged to the hilt with an over-priced house, the only thing worse than the market not correcting itself, is the market correcting itself. Should interest rates increase to (heaven forbid) six per cent or more, the whole house of cards will come tumbling down.
Where would that leave the city?
Will it become a playground for the wealthy?
Will it be filled with high-end retail and restaurants, but deemed too expensive to attract any substantial industry outside of real estate development and construction? As of now, the city already has an unusually high rate of office vacancy.
I’m sure the city revenue has remained very healthy because property values cannot be hidden and therefore the proportionate taxes are collected. What about the income tax that Revenue Canada collects? Do people living in a $1.3 million dollar house in Terra Nova really only have a median income —according to 2010 National Housing Survey — of $30,000-$50,000 a year?
Being the “poorest” city in the Lower Mainland, how soon will our schools, medical care and social services begin to reflect those relatively low median income levels?
Ken Moffatt
Richmond
