Thousands of unsold homes pile up across BC as governments consider intervention

Thousands of new homes across British Columbia sit empty.According to data from CMHC, there are about 4 ,400 unsold condos in Metro Vancouver.Expanding outwards from the lower mainland, the number grows to 5 ,800.Unprecedented numbers of vacancies that are acting as a drag on the housing market.

When it comes to condominiums and apartments in general, it's the highest number that we've seen since January ever.

Last week, the Prime Minister announced $3 .2 billion to reduce the cost of building new homes but also committed to easing the empty home crisis.Saying developers don't want to sell units at a loss and offering government help to purchase homes that will either be sold or rented out.While the development community welcomed the news, critics say the plan amounts to nothing more than a bailout.

Who's going to pay the difference?Well, Mark Carney wants you, the taxpayer, who's struggling with mortgage payments, grocery bills, and high gas prices, to pay those losses instead of the developers.

It's not that the condos can't sell.They just can't sell at a price, as the Prime Minister acknowledged, that is comfortable for those developers who've got those condos out there.

According to the province, there is $280 million on the table right now.Details of the program are still being worked on.

What we're looking at is providing an affordable pathway to home ownership for people in B .

C.While critics are questioning the bailout, the alternative could be worse.Real estate sector provides tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic benefit.The counter -argument would be some of these developers aren't going to pay back the banks.And if banks struggle, the whole economy struggles.And if it gets really bad, the government's going to bail the banks out anyway.

While details are still to be finalized, given the numbers, Whatever the program looks like, it might not be large enough to deal with the glut of empty homes.Aaron McArthur, Global News.