Those studies are seriously flawed imo as their methodology is to filter on non-anglicized Chinese names and use that as a proxy for foreign money. That would describe a lot of people that aren't recent immigrants, like me.
If anything, those studies show that ethinic-Chinese people are more predisposed to buying a house than renting, even when renting is much cheaper.
seriously flawed is an overstatement; there have been two studies done so far and while the researchers acknowledge the limitations of the method, in aggregate it is considered mostly sound by their peers.
But I agree - we should have something a bit more conclusive than 'Chinese names'. But the whole point is that the current provincial government is actively hostile to requiring real estate agents to collect this information. So last names are all we have.
If anything, those studies show that ethinic-Chinese people are more predisposed to buying a house than renting, even when renting is much cheaper.