Every Cycle Has a Story — But This One Feels Different

Every housing cycle has its own rhythm. In previous downturns across British Columbia, the culprits were familiar: market exuberance, tightening credit, and cyclical corrections that eventually found balance.

But the current BC housing market affordability crisis feels different. The distortions we’re seeing today aren’t the product of market excess, they’re largely manufactured, created not by organic forces but by layers of government intervention.

1. When Policy Becomes the Problem

Over the past several years, all levels of government have stepped in to “fix” the housing market with increasingly heavy-handed measures. From foreign buyer bans and vacancy taxes to punitive property transfer levies, each was introduced under the banner of improving affordability. Yet, instead of stabilizing prices, these policies have disrupted the natural balance of supply and demand.

In a healthy market, prices act as signals, rising when demand exceeds supply, falling when buyers step back. When policymakers attempt to suppress those signals artificially, the system loses its ability to self-correct. The outcome is what we see today:

  • A sharp decline in housing starts across Metro Vancouver.
  • Developers delaying or cancelling projects amid weak presale absorption.
  • A shrinking pool of investors willing to assume risk.

The result? Constricted supply and higher prices, the exact opposite of what these interventions were meant to achieve.

2. The Illusion of “Affordability”

Government messaging continues to frame affordability as a simple equation: home prices must come down. But true BC housing market affordability depends on both sides, the cost of housing and the income levels of those trying to buy.

While policymakers focus on regulating ownership, they overlook the fact that wages in BC have not kept pace with inflation or productivity. If median incomes had grown proportionally over the past decade, many of today’s affordability issues would be less severe.

A sustainable path forward requires economic policies that reward productivity, foster innovation, and lift household earning power, not just those that attempt to control asset values. Without stronger income growth, affordability will always remain an illusion measured against stagnant paycheques.

3. A Market That’s Lost Its Feedback Loop

In a functioning housing market, prices provide critical feedback, as they inform builders when to construct more and buyers when to wait. But a cascade of restrictive policies has broken that loop.

  • Speculation and vacancy taxes discourage legitimate investors who help finance and rent out new housing.
  • Property transfer taxes, especially those targeting foreign buyers, reduce investment capital that supports construction.
  • Foreign buyer bans further limit the presale demand developers rely on to secure financing.

Individually, each measure may seem defensible. Together, they’ve created a systemic drag on confidence and liquidity, slowing new housing creation and worsening the affordability crisis. BC housing market affordability.

4. What Real Solutions Look Like

Lasting improvements to BC housing market affordability won’t come from more restrictions, but from empowerment. Real solutions should focus on:

  • Streamlining development approvals to reduce red tape and accelerate housing supply.
  • Reforming tax structures that penalize investment and new construction.
  • Supporting wage growth and productivity across all industries.
  • Aligning housing strategies between federal, provincial, and municipal levels to avoid policy contradictions.

Affordability is achieved not by punishing participation in the market, but by creating conditions where homes can be built efficiently and where residents earn enough to buy or rent them sustainably.

5. The Bigger Picture

British Columbia’s housing market doesn’t need saving from itself. It needs room to function. Markets are inherently adaptive, they correct when allowed to operate within consistent, predictable rules. But constant interference, political posturing, and tax-driven policies have created a manufactured housing crisis, one born not of greed, but of governance.

If the goal is truly to make housing more attainable, the answer lies not in greater control but in balance, between policy and productivity, taxation and innovation, restraint and growth.

Because when you let a market breathe, it finds its way back to equilibrium, and that’s where genuine BC housing market affordability begins.

Stay Informed and Stay Ahead

The conversation around BC housing market affordability is far from over. As policies evolve and new measures take shape, understanding how they truly affect prices, supply, and opportunity will be key for buyers, investors, and industry professionals alike.

If you want to stay informed about BC housing trends, policy impacts, and real estate insights, subscribe to our newsletter or follow our latest market updates. The more we understand the roots of the problem, the closer we get to real solutions and to restoring balance in BC’s housing market.

The path toward lasting BC housing market affordability doesn’t lie in heavier regulation, but in restoring balance — between policy and productivity, taxation and innovation, restraint and growth. What British Columbia needs is not more intervention, but an environment where the market can function freely and efficiently.

True BC housing market affordability will only emerge when government, developers, and communities work together to create a system that rewards productivity, encourages responsible growth, and allows supply to meet genuine demand. Because when the housing market is allowed to breathe, it finds its natural equilibrium and that’s where real affordability begins. BC housing market affordability