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His report compiles a number of other studies, including data on home-buying trends, population density, the cancelled immigrant investor program and American research on the same issue.

Gordon said his report blames Vancouver’s housing crisis on foreign buyers, particularly from China, because “this is where the evidence points, not because of some anti-Chinese animus.”

Chinese investors have also spiked home prices in the Toronto region, but Vancouver has seen the highest rise in real estate due to the influx of foreign money reaching an unprecedented level in the last year, he said.

Gordon noted that other countries, including Australia and Singapore, have created policies for foreign homebuyers to protect their own citizens but that hasn’t happened in Canada.

The average sale price of a single-detached home in Metro Vancouver was $1.4 million in April, a 30-per-cent increase from a year earlier, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

The report, titled “Vancouver’s Housing Affordability Crisis: Causes, Consequences and Conclusions,” says political inaction has allowed the problem to grow.

“By linking the crisis unambiguously to foreign ownership and investment, documenting the major harms of the affordability crisis, and proposing a policy route out of the current mess, the report hopes to harness the city’s resentment and dispel its resignation.”

Mobilized and informed residents can ideally hold political leaders accountable, the report says.