Lower prices won’t kill home construction

Re: “‘Job killer’: Langford joins chorus against tax,” April 5. Langford Mayor Stew Young thinks that the speculation tax will be a job killer, “because when house prices go down, they don’t build as many homes.” This is completely false.

Checking Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. statistics, we see no correlation whatsoever between house prices and housing starts. In fact, the strongest year for housing starts in Greater Victoria was 2006, with 3,297 starts. House prices in 2006 were barely half what they are today. Yet in 2017, we only had 2,263 starts.

Young can relax. The data show that construction will continue apace, even without speculators driving up prices.

Better still, the speculation tax will be great for the local economy.

Currently, many young homeowners are “house poor.” The cost of housing takes up a staggering percentage of their incomes. There is little left to buy cars, buy large appliances, go out for dinner or take a vacation.

With stable or even falling house prices, there will be more money in their pockets to spend on other goods and services.

Young people today face a housing crisis. Our housing policy should be designed to get an affordable roof over their heads — not protect the equity of multiple-home owners wishing to leave their properties vacant.

We don’t need vacant homes in Langford or anywhere else, and the speculation tax will help. Richard Brunt Victoria