Even though I'm Canadian, the situation is similar in Vancouver: the house that my folks bought for $150K back in 1992 is worth close to $1M today--and what most buyers in White Rock (suburb of Vancouver) do is buy the property, then tear down the house & rebuild.

In Vancouver, the biggest issue is that overseas buyers are purchasing properties at exorbitant prices, pricing Canadians (residents and citizens) out of the market. A UBC study recently showed that 15% of downtown condos in Vancouver are sitting empty, with their owners simply not living in them. Some commercial property is being exclusively marketed towards overseas purchasers.

It's rare that people my age are able to afford to purchase a home here. A condo, perhaps, but the huge difference in housing prices between 20 years ago and now are pushing many young professionals out of the area.

Many other countries have laws that limit foreign ownership of property, but in Canada, we really don't. It's unfortunate. (And probably off-topic, given that the topic is American home ownership, but I wanted to contribute, dammit.)