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The never-ending anger toward real estate in Vancouver can be very intense sometimes. For first-time buyers, getting priced out of the market brings with it a range of emotions and a never-ending gamut of blame. Blame the foreigners! Blame the speculators! Blame real-estate agents! Blame the City of Vancouver! Blame Christy Clark! Blame the rich! Blame the poor! One thing that seems to be ignored in the discussion is that B.C. real estate owners are the most taxpayer subsidized in all of Canada.

And it’s not even close.

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Let’s start with the Home Owner Grant. Every January there is a media storm wondering how much the government will change the exemption to. You know why this is big news every year? It’s because this is a component for a lot of homeowners trying to decide whether or not they sell their property or keep it. So every year the B.C. taxpayer pays some of its citizens $570 toward their property taxes, whereas in an unsubsidized market these owners could be inclined to sell. In a market where the lack of supply is often argued as a reason for high prices, the provincial government puts an unwarranted restraint on the property market’s natural supply of listings with this program.