Have your say: Government doubles down on foreign buyer tracking

The government has vowed to better track housing in Canada; we want to know if brokers think it’s needed.

Budget 2017 includes a $40 million pledge, allocated over five years, for a Statistics Canada database called the Housing Statistics Framework (HSF).

That’s an additional $40 million to what has already been pledged to collect foreign ownership, which was announced last year.

“The HSF will leverage existing data from provincial-territorial land registries, property assessment programs and administrative records to create a nationwide database of all residential properties in Canada, and provide up-to-date data on purchases and sales,” the government said in the budget. “Statistics Canada will begin publishing initial data in the fall of 2017. The HSF will represent a significant jump forward in the quality and type of housing data available and will yield significant ongoing benefits by enhancing the ability of housing participants, commentators and policy-makers to monitor and analyze the housing market.”

According to the budget, it seems a large portion of the funds will be earmarked for better tracking foreign ownership stats in Canada.

“In the summer of 2016 the Government created a working group comprised of federal, provincial and municipal officials,” it said. “The group found that there were important gaps in current nationwide housing data, including the degree of foreign ownership, and in other areas such as detailed geographical data on homeowner demographic and financing characteristics.”

Many will argue the more data the better; especially when it comes to influencing future housing policy measures, which the government has promised it will do.

“The HSF will represent a significant jump forward in the quality and type of housing data available and will yield significant ongoing benefits by enhancing the ability of housing participants, commentators and policy-makers to monitor and analyze the housing market,” the budget said.

More data is always a good thing

MBN

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