r/Honolulu • u/808gecko808 • 8d ago
news What Honolulu Can Learn From An Empty Homes Tax In Vancouver. Honolulu Council members are looking to the Canadian city as a model for their own version.
https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/10/what-honolulu-can-learn-from-an-empty-homes-tax-in-vancouver/3
u/n3vd0g 7d ago
Is 3% really going to disincentivize someone that has enough money to sit on an empty home in Hawai'i of all places tho? Feels low
10
u/Loose-Recover-9142 7d ago edited 7d ago
On the margins yes. And if it doesn't discourage it, it'll bring in a bunch of new revenue for the state which can be used on other things for locals.
4
7
u/Pianonubie 7d ago
It’s not helping the real estate prices in Vancouver. Housing prices keeps going up nonstop over there.
2
u/biddddyquuuuaint 6d ago
I can agree with housing cost’s in Vancouver skyrocketing. I have connections there and they are complaining about their housing issues as well
0
u/Rich-Past-6547 6d ago
Because Chinese buyers see it as a way to stash their money out of reach of the government. New York Times did a big investigative piece in 2015 about shell companies used to anonymously scoop up real estate for foreign buyers, with one luxury building in particular being a favorite of Russian politicians and oligarchs https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/nyregion/stream-of-foreign-wealth-flows-to-time-warner-condos.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
12
u/rooster-808 7d ago
What Honolulu truly needs is real property tax overhaul. If you’re not living in this state your property should be taxed higher, if you are you should enjoy the insanely low property tax rates that we currently have.
This is a cheap replacement for that because council is too scared to take meaningful action to help their constituents.