City of Vancouver MOU lets Airbnb off the hook

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced last week with much fanfare that the City of Vancouver has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbnb to help the city crackdown on illegal short term rentals. I got a hold of the full text of the MOU1)https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fhQagqnZxXHX2DGmAysApgO5xYN0OSaa/view?usp=sharing through a Freedom of Information request. Buried inside the five pages […]

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No, Dr. Tansey, CMHC report never claimed that “the effect of foreign investors is small compared to other factors”

Yesterday, I demonstrated1)UBC report blaming red tape for housing crisis is based on lobby group report containing demonstrably false numbers that the report3)Growing Pains: Density, economic growth, sustainability and wellbeing in Metro Vancouver by Dr. James Tansey of UBC Sauder School of Business blaming red tape instead of foreign speculators has used a demonstrably false […]

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UBC report blaming red tape for housing crisis is based on lobby group report containing demonstrably false numbers

Dr. James Tansey of UBC Sauder School of Business has just published a study blaming red tape, and not foreign buyers, for Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis1)Growing Pains: Density, economic growth, sustainability and wellbeing in Metro Vancouver. Given that a recent “study” by Prof. Andrey Pavlov of SFU Beedie School of Business turned out to be […]

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Property taxes by city based on official median/typical assessment values

Simon Fraser University Professor Andrey Pavlov recently produced a graph with the bold claim that “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada”. The graph is based on multiplying MLS Detached Benchmark prices by the tax rate1)Prof. Pavlov’s methodology. Cities don’t use MLS Detached Benchmark prices to calculate property taxes. Cities use […]

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Lies, damned lies, and Prof. Pavlov’s “methodology”

Prof. Pavlov has finally published the “methodology”1)Prof. Pavlov’s methodology he used to arrive at the conclusion that “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada”. Before we examine the methodology, let’s get something out of the way: Prof. Pavlov’s conclusion that “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada” […]

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Prof Pavlov’s “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada” graph is a lie

Update II: Prof. Pavlov has finally published his materials and methods, almost a month after his graph was published. In the words of great scientist Carl Sagan “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”, and Prof. Pavlov’s original graph was an extraordinary claim with an extraordinary lack of evidence. But I’m happy that he has finally made […]

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