Vancouver residents say #DontHave1Million to spend on housing
Hundreds rally against the high cost of real estate in Canadian city.
Under the banner, ‘don’t have one million’, hundreds rallied for affordable housing in Vancouver, Canada on Sunday. The protest, organised by Vancouverites of Affordable Housing, called on city and federal governments to do more to lower the cost of real estate in the city. The average cost of a single-family home in Vancouver is more than one million Canadian dollars ($800,000 in US dollars).
Activists point to a study, released earlier this month by Vancity Credit Union, that found housing costs increased by 63 per cent between 2001 and 2014, while salaries rose by 36 per cent. They also argue foreign buyers are purchasing high-priced housing, driving up real estate costs. A change.org petition that calls on the government to restrict foreign investment has received more than 24,000 signatures.
Sunday’s rally was led in part by Eveline Xia, who started #DontHave1million to call for a “national housing strategy”: