It has become a popular claim in American political discourse that giants like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street are driving housing costs through the roof by buying up vast swaths of single-family homes.
The biggest problem in our coastal Northeast Florida area is builders don't want to build anything under $500k and the "living in a dream world" generation now coming into home buying age think a "starter home" is one only 1000 sq. ft. LARGER than their parents live in. They seem to think their parents' generation waltzed into their, now, $700k home "when it was easy." There are also no real new neighborhoods being built with 1100 sq. ft. starter homes for $275k. All of those homes are old and in "questionable" areas that are, at least now, being gentrified. Still, in my day, we bought an old small home in the best questionable but improving area and worked our asses off to improve and modernized it while building equity for a down payment into a better home/area. Lather, rinse and repeat until we are where we are. I physically built the house we are in and did multiple remodels and additions. That part of our generation's real estate investment position seems lost on the younger generations. All I see on X is whiners bitching about "you damned boomers" who ruined the real estate market.
Grok; According to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) data from 2020, investors own approximately 20% of residential properties in British Columbia, with higher rates in Vancouver (around 25-34% depending on property type, such as 34% for condominium apartments in the Vancouver CMA in 2022). This figure encompasses properties owned by foreign investors, private equity firms, and group investors collectively, as these groups are subsets of overall investor ownership. 49 98 78
Within this, foreign (non-resident) ownership is a smaller subset. Based on 2022 CHSP data, exclusively non-resident owned condominium apartments represent 8.8% in the City of Vancouver and 9% in Richmond (part of Metro Vancouver), but the overall non-resident ownership rate for all residential properties in Vancouver is lower, around 5-7% based on stable trends from 2018-2022. 99 44 45
Private equity and group investors (business and government owned properties) account for about 10% of residential properties in British Columbia in 2020, with similar rates likely in Vancouver, where condominium apartments make up 45.4% of such holdings. 117
The combined percentage for homes owned by foreign investors, private equity, and group investors is thus approximately 25%, as there is some overlap between foreign and corporate ownership (e.g., foreign private equity is included in non-resident figures), and the total aligns with overall investor ownership rates in Vancouver. This is substantiated by CHSP data showing investor ownership at 25.3% for purchases in Vancouver from 2018-2020, which serves as a proxy for stock ownership given stable market trends. 6
To arrive at this solution, start with the overall investor ownership rate from CHSP (20-25% for BC, higher in Vancouver). Subtract domestic individual investor ownership (estimated at 10-15% based on breakdowns in CHSP releases) and add the specific subsets for foreign (5-7%) and corporate (10%), adjusting for overlap (foreign corporate ~1-2%). The net combined rate is 25%, consistent with multiple CHSP reports and analyses.
Never accepted big funds like Vanguard wanted real property with all the headaches. Blackstone may own various real property investment groups as a result of an overheated stock market still real property represents a depreciating asset and has maintenance costs along with other costs. Not the best investment for institutional companies.
Under building is a result of reduced capital availability along with other governmental nonsense. The stock market has rewarded investment over many years tying up capital in paper gain. Corrections always follow so we may see a building boom. Until then those with cheap mortgages will hang on.
"This has the effect of placing low-income renters in better neighborhoods than they could otherwise access, expanding socio-economic mobility."
Having 2-3 Section 8 renters all too often ends up being the wedge for importing ghetto family values into your middle class neighborhood. Until those augmented neighborhoods can be policed without screams of "raaaaacism" every time police break up a party, Just Say No.
The biggest problem in our coastal Northeast Florida area is builders don't want to build anything under $500k and the "living in a dream world" generation now coming into home buying age think a "starter home" is one only 1000 sq. ft. LARGER than their parents live in. They seem to think their parents' generation waltzed into their, now, $700k home "when it was easy." There are also no real new neighborhoods being built with 1100 sq. ft. starter homes for $275k. All of those homes are old and in "questionable" areas that are, at least now, being gentrified. Still, in my day, we bought an old small home in the best questionable but improving area and worked our asses off to improve and modernized it while building equity for a down payment into a better home/area. Lather, rinse and repeat until we are where we are. I physically built the house we are in and did multiple remodels and additions. That part of our generation's real estate investment position seems lost on the younger generations. All I see on X is whiners bitching about "you damned boomers" who ruined the real estate market.
https://x.com/classiclearner/status/1958967801265418429?s=61&t=IS4uqoy1NjmzUauG9ChEwg
The three largest investors in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) as of the most recent reported quarter (June 30, 2025) are institutional shareholders:
1 Vanguard Group Inc., holding 69.49 million shares (9.43% of outstanding shares).
2 Blackrock Inc., holding 51.15 million shares (6.94% of outstanding shares).
3 Morgan Stanley, holding 31.66 million shares (4.30% of outstanding shares). 0
No, housing is now an asset and investment
Grok; According to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) data from 2020, investors own approximately 20% of residential properties in British Columbia, with higher rates in Vancouver (around 25-34% depending on property type, such as 34% for condominium apartments in the Vancouver CMA in 2022). This figure encompasses properties owned by foreign investors, private equity firms, and group investors collectively, as these groups are subsets of overall investor ownership. 49 98 78
Within this, foreign (non-resident) ownership is a smaller subset. Based on 2022 CHSP data, exclusively non-resident owned condominium apartments represent 8.8% in the City of Vancouver and 9% in Richmond (part of Metro Vancouver), but the overall non-resident ownership rate for all residential properties in Vancouver is lower, around 5-7% based on stable trends from 2018-2022. 99 44 45
Private equity and group investors (business and government owned properties) account for about 10% of residential properties in British Columbia in 2020, with similar rates likely in Vancouver, where condominium apartments make up 45.4% of such holdings. 117
The combined percentage for homes owned by foreign investors, private equity, and group investors is thus approximately 25%, as there is some overlap between foreign and corporate ownership (e.g., foreign private equity is included in non-resident figures), and the total aligns with overall investor ownership rates in Vancouver. This is substantiated by CHSP data showing investor ownership at 25.3% for purchases in Vancouver from 2018-2020, which serves as a proxy for stock ownership given stable market trends. 6
To arrive at this solution, start with the overall investor ownership rate from CHSP (20-25% for BC, higher in Vancouver). Subtract domestic individual investor ownership (estimated at 10-15% based on breakdowns in CHSP releases) and add the specific subsets for foreign (5-7%) and corporate (10%), adjusting for overlap (foreign corporate ~1-2%). The net combined rate is 25%, consistent with multiple CHSP reports and analyses.
Never accepted big funds like Vanguard wanted real property with all the headaches. Blackstone may own various real property investment groups as a result of an overheated stock market still real property represents a depreciating asset and has maintenance costs along with other costs. Not the best investment for institutional companies.
Under building is a result of reduced capital availability along with other governmental nonsense. The stock market has rewarded investment over many years tying up capital in paper gain. Corrections always follow so we may see a building boom. Until then those with cheap mortgages will hang on.
"This has the effect of placing low-income renters in better neighborhoods than they could otherwise access, expanding socio-economic mobility."
Having 2-3 Section 8 renters all too often ends up being the wedge for importing ghetto family values into your middle class neighborhood. Until those augmented neighborhoods can be policed without screams of "raaaaacism" every time police break up a party, Just Say No.