VICE and local credit union Vancity have partnered on a new video series, exploring Vancouver’s “surreal estate market.”
The series looks at the issues facing young people and first-time buyers in the Lower Mainland. Part one features a group of young adults being forced to move from the house they are living in due to an imminent redevelopment. Foreign ownership of homes and condos in the city is lamented, with one young man saying he doesn’t see a future for himself in Vancouver.
Part two features Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and NDP MLA and housing critic David Eby, who both say the provincial government needs to take action to reduce speculation and foreign ownership.
And in part three, the host meets a microloft resident living in a space that’s roughly 250 square feet, two people who share a Victorian-era mansion with eight others, and a couple who have opted out of the market completely by living in a converted camper van with their two dogs.
The series is part of an ad campaign by Vancity with the tagline “Don’t give up.”
Undoubtedly that’s how a lot of young people in Vancouver are feeling these days.
Watch parts 1-3Â of the series, Surreal Estate, below:
Part 1: Inside Vancouver’s Skyrocketing Housing Market
Part 2: What Vancouver Is Doing About the Shady Housing Market
Part 3: How Vancouver’s Young People Are Working Around the Real Estate Crisis
