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The Metro Vancouver housing affordability crunch was one of the biggest B.C. news stories of 2016 and triggered Premier Christy Clark’s most dramatic policy moves of that year.

Clark initially resisted intervening in a red-hot housing market that saw an explosion in home prices, driving the cost of a detached home beyond the reach of non-millionaires.

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But as home prices went up, Clark’s approval ratings went down. Faced with an election in spring, she suddenly revered and executed a bold intervention.

Last summer’s 15-per-cent tax on foreign home buyers cooled off the highest end of the market. Then Clark rolled out $700 million worth of interest-free loans for qualified first-time homebuyers (foreign buyers excluded, of course).

On the surface, these aggressive moves seem counteractive. One was meant to cool off buyer demand, while the other is meant to simulate it.

Either way, the Liberals seemed pleased with the way both programs were received by voters. But the housing issue is still a tricky one for the Liberals as Clark prepares to hit the campaign trail is search of another election win in May.