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New Zealand just imposed a ban on foreign real-estate purchases in a bid to rein in a runaway market where locals can’t afford to buy.

Now, B.C. Green party Leader Andrew Weaver says the province should do the same thing.

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“We should clamp down and say, ‘Look, real estate is not a commodity for offshore speculation — it’s for a place for people to live,” Weaver said Monday. “We need to be bold. We need to start progressively, moving to a complete ban on foreign ownership. The time has come.”

The New Zealand foreign-buyers ban applies to existing homes in the country and kicked in Jan. 1.

The New Zealand government said offshore speculators — especially from Mainland China — were buying up homes and driving prices beyond the reach of local residents.

Weaver believes that the same flood of offshore capital has distorted the B.C. market.

“There are 7.5 billion people in the world — that’s an awful lot of capital out there looking for a place to be parked,” Weaver said. “We are a province of just 4.5 million people, with some of the most beautiful properties in the world. You know why the prices have gone crazy here. Money is being parked in residential real estate as a speculative investment. It’s gotten to the point where people can’t afford to live in the cities where they work.”