Beautiful British Columbia's geography poses a challenge for housing. 2.4M out of 4.6M (54% of total) British Columbians lived in Greater Vancouver based on 2016 census. Geographically, Greater Vancouver only occupies 0.31% of British Columbia's land mass. Moreover, Greater Vancouver's growth is limited in three directions: mountains to the north, ocean to the west, and US to the south. Hence, the only direction the city can grow is to the east, or to go up (higher density).
The types of housing (single-family, apartments, etc.) is planned and regulated by BC municipalities. In Greater Vancouver alone, there are 23 municipalities that determine their own policies and plans. All of those plans can also be changed after every 4 year election cycle. That disrupts planning, and execution, of any long-time regional strategy. Further investments will also be inhibited due to perceived political uncertainty. Within this framework, developable land will remain scarce, and prices will have nowhere to go but to go up.
