Sort of. They are regular folks who have struck it rich on an investment. They really are the last vestiges of the middle class.
As economic disparity fluctuates, the bar for what is considered luxury rises and falls. For my parents' generation, a single family home in Gordon Head was something that regular folks earning a decent income could expect. For my generation, it's a luxury we will probably never be able to afford.
It's not just economic disparity though that is fluctuating. The other moving variable is the desirability of living in Victoria. It isn't that all SFHs have suddenly become unaffordable. There are lots of SFHs in BC that are affordable. It is a SFH in Gordon Head or Downtown Victoria that has become out of reach. But that is (IMHO) less a crisis of affordability, and more an issue of a location becoming more desirable.
This is not unique to Victoria, or to the current generation. I could afford a nice house in New York state, but not in Manhattan. I could afford a nice house in France but not in Monte Carlo. There have always been and will always be highly desirable and expensive areas that out of reach to the average consumer. Sometimes those locations ebb and flow due to external variables. Victoria is a very desirable location, now more than ever with the Boomer generation reaching retirement age.
I'm not saying that those changes don't have a legitimate impact. And I can understand why someone starting out and wanting to live in Victoria would find it frustrating.
But I think it is important to clearly define a problem, before trying to "solve" it (foreign buyers tax, affordable housing plans, empty condo penalties). There is a difference between a geographically broad-based housing crisis, and the existence of some highly desirable areas seeing a significant increase in price because of soaring demand specific to that limited area.