Who Should Have The Right To Own Land In Any Given Country?

Tweet

I just had a friend on Facebook ask a very interesting question. My friend is an American, and he wanted to know if those who are not American citizens should have the right to own property in the USA. I live in Canada, and there is a crackdown on foreign-owned properties, because landlords from outside of Canada are buying up our real estate, and renting it back to Canadians at horrible prices. We are being priced right out of owning homes in our own country. My American friend and I both agree that anyone, citizen or not, should have the right to RENT a property in any country, but that in order to own a piece of that country, one should be a citizen. Thinking about myself for example, I am a Danish Canadian. In my case this means I am Canadian born, and my mother was born in Denmark. She became a Canadian citizen when she was a child, and has owned property here, and she ran her own business for years. We are all Canadians. None of us are dual citizens on paper, but in our hearts we're still part Danish. Am I interested in owning property in Denmark? No! I'd rather see a Dane own property in Denmark, a Chinese own property in China, a Saudi own property in Saudi Arabia, a French person own property in France, and so on and so forth, all around the world. I don't feel like I'm discriminating, I feel like I want those who already live in a country to have the right to own property they can afford, and not be priced out. I am not saying all foreign investors and landlords would do that, rather that here in Canada it's become a problem. How do you feel about owning property in another country, folks owning property in your country, and what's happening with the affordability of housing?