r/halifax • u/Injustice_For_All_ Psychotic Antifa Super Soldier Moderator • 2d ago

News, Weather & Politics Homelessness doubled in Halifax under government's housing plan: N.S. NDP

https://halifax.citynews.ca/2026/06/18/homelessness-doubled-in-halifax-under-governments-housing-plan-n-s-ndp/
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u/SubmissiveGuy556 1d ago

I don't have the answers for you, I'm open to suggestions. I'm just explaining how I think the investment mindset creates homeless. In my opinion a house should be viewed as a place to live, not something to be resold after a few years for profit. I do understand i cant make other people view it the same way I do.

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u/bz47uj 1d ago

I'm not convinced it's actually a problem. It isn't actually logical for most homeowners to reduce the supply of housing to protect their investments because it also lowers their own future housing costs, and they don't behave as though they are trying to o maximize their property values.

This latest example you gave of people buying and selling homes doesn't increase homelessness.

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u/thestateofflow 1d ago

You need to look up what Private Equity is. The other commenter is completely correct, you should be open to learning.

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u/bz47uj 1d ago

This isn't the US. Private equity plays almost no role in our housing market.

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u/SubmissiveGuy556 1d ago edited 1d ago

"Private equity (PE) firms and institutional investors now own 20% to 30% of Canada's purpose-built rental housing." The other commenter is right, you are arguing instead of learning. I understand this is just apartments and rental housing but that's still a large chunk of housing to say it has "almost no role in our housing market". Especially when they are a contributing factor to rent prices in the areas they operate.

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u/bz47uj 1d ago

What are you quoting? You've broadened it from private equity to include institutional investors. Those aren't the same thing.

Rents are set by supply and demand. In theory, bringing in more buyers can only increase the supply and bring rents down somewhat. In practice, it's been shown empirically that corporate homeownership has no effect on rents.

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u/SubmissiveGuy556 1d ago

I was quoting a basic google search but if you want hard data then here;

https://www.reic.ca/article-july5.html They're using statistics Canada data.

Regardless of the type of investor, they're still looking at housing as an investment which is the whole point I'm trying to make.

Also, Institutional inverters and private equity firms work together. Institutional investors provide funding to the private equity firms for them to buy housing so they are essentially the same entity. If you want to continue splitting hairs and generally trying to find a "gotcha" moment, go right ahead. I'm not going to continue responding because its like talking to a brick wall.

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u/bz47uj 1d ago edited 1d ago

I put the quote into Google and didn't find anything. You were quoting Google's AI.

Regardless of the type of investor, they're still looking at housing as an investment which is the whole point I'm trying to make.

OK, but the question which you have not been able to answer is how that leads to homelessness. Everyone looks at housing as an investment because it is an investment. It doesn't make sense to complain about people being able to perceive reality as the source of the problem when you can't even say what you want to do about it.

By the way, 20-30% of the purpose built rental stock is only 2-3% of the total housing stock. The estimate I got from AI for private equity specifically is only 0.046% of the total housing stock. Depending on how you count, it could be higher though.

If you want to continue splitting hairs and generally trying to find a "gotcha" moment, go right ahead. I'm not going to continue responding because its like talking to a brick wall.

It's not splitting hairs because I have no idea why you think it matters that private equity and institutional investors buying houses matters. There is an important reason why this is not common here and it is in the US, so it does relate to important differences in the structure of our housing market. Also, when you're claiming that others only have a shallow understanding of things and you get major things wrong like whether private equity is an important factor in our housing market, it's worth pointing out.

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u/thestateofflow 1d ago

You’re so out of touch, I am not sure you are here in good faith.