High housing costs in Toronto and Vancouver are being blamed on Chinese purchasers grabbing too much of an already-limited supply.  These factors do contribute to high housing costs, but most of the blame lies elsewhere. City homes aren’t expensive because we’ve run out of land to develop within cities, as is often claimed. City homes are expensive because politicians prevent available land from being intelligently developed or redeveloped.

Without constructing any more high-rises or giving up their greenbelts, Toronto and Vancouver could easily double their population within their existing city limits. Their residents wouldn’t even need to emulate European architecture. 

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