The Province

B.C. first-time buyers’ plan panned

Program persuades people to take ‘big risk with other people’s money,’ economist says

A new interest-free loan program touted by the B.C. government as a boon to first-time homebuyers struggling to save for a down payment is drawing harsh criticism from economists and other experts who pan the proposal as a politicall­y motivated move likely to inflate housing prices even further.

The program could end up boosting demand — and therefore prices — by encouragin­g even more people to compete over the same number of homes, said Joshua Gottlieb of the Vancouver School of Economics.

“It seems like a policy that does not reflect an understand­ing of the current markets or basic economics,” he said in an interview.

“This is actually not really promoting ownership. This is promoting owning a small share of a home and taking a big risk with other people’s money.”

The provincewi­de program provides a matching loan that is interest-free and payment-free for the first five years to residents buying their first home, capped at five per cent of a property’s purchase price to a maximum of $750,000. That means the government could contribute up to $37,500 for each eligible home purchase.

The province did not immediatel­y respond to a request for comment, but Premier Christy Clark has touted the program as an effective tool to help first-time buyers whose only barrier to home ownership is lack of a down payment.

The last thing the real estate market needs is stimulus, said Tom Davidoff, an economist and housing expert at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business.

“Nobody thinks the problem with Canada’s housing market, and in particular Vancouver’s housing market, is that it’s just too dead and the values are depressed and nobody wants to buy,” he said.

Nathanael Lauster, a sociologis­t at UBC, said the timing of the announceme­nt is telling, coming in the lead-up to next year’s provincial election.

A program designed to juice up the housing market benefits developers and the real estate and constructi­on industries, as well as homeowners and residents who are already wealthy enough to qualify for the loan, Lauster said. These are all groups that tend to support the B.C. Liberals, he said.

Paul Kershaw at the university’s school of population and public health saluted the province’s attempt at assisting young people, but said the move would inevitably drive up prices and encourage people to take on more debt.

“I can sum it up in four words: right intention, wrong execution,” he said.

Funding for the plan will come from a 15-per-cent tax on foreign homebuyers, a luxury tax on homes worth more than $2 million and from property-transfer tax revenues.

While academics appear unanimous in their criticism of the government’s Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnershi­p program, the industry commends the initiative.

“Anything that assists first-time homebuyers get on that property ladder now is definitely a good thing,” said Paul Taylor, head of Mortgage Profession­als Canada.

Neil Moody, CEO of the Canadian Home Builders Associatio­n of B.C., said the measure is about helping people start to build equity. The move is also important to safeguard the housing industry and the jobs it provides, he added.

Anne McMullin of the Urban Developmen­t Institute agreed, adding the financial risk to taxpayers would be minimal because buyers still need to qualify for a mortgage based on the new rules.