When an oligarch owns the empty house next door

New York

IN VANCOUVER, British Columbia, the price of a single-family home has soared so fast over the past few years that even many well-paid local workers have been pushed out of the city.

In Miami and New York, new luxury apartments are rising rapidly, often sold to anonymous buyers, sight unseen. In Melbourne and London, housing shortages have worsened even as recently purchased homes appear to be sitting vacant.