text: When the real economy is mediocre at best, there is no reason BUT foreign buyers to see RE charging ahead.  When Granny and Grampa sell in Toronto, or Vancouver, or Calgary, and that lets them blithely pay a crazy price in cottage country or Vancouver Island, there is no foreign buyer in the secondary purchase, but that money is rather obviously driving it.  You have to be pretty thick to claim it is not driven by money from China.  That is then supplemented by Canadians who borrow to their eyeballs to match the crazy equilibrium price set by the outside buyers.  What fraction of the 1 million 10-year visa people have purchased? Do they report any income?  Even if they report income and pay tax (a big if), do we want to take immigrants by such back-door means? And by money rather than skills?? Let's limit ownership to Canadians/PRs, cut back our dumb mortgage insurance, and take immigrants based only on the skills we will need to replace retirees, and in growing industries.