It’s no secret the pandemic has produced supercharged housing markets across the country, but it might surprise you to learn that prices in Chilliwack and Guelph are on par with Boston and Seattle, while Oakville and Mississauga have joined the list of places where resales average more than $1 million.
Meanwhile, read about why real estate developers decide to hold off on building until the time is right, how Toronto’s benchmark home price surpassed Vancouver’s, and the benefits of housing co-operatives in Livabl’s weekly roundup of Canadian housing news and trends.
Taking the temperature of a scorching hot housing market: How crazy is the nation’s housing market? The Globe and Mail highlights five signs that it’s out of control, including prices skyrocketing by nearly 50 per cent during the last two years, seven additional cities joining Toronto and Vancouver with average resale prices exceeding $1 million, a growing disparity between wages and home prices, the alarming state of inflation, and how reluctant sellers have limited listings.
Profit-driven developers don’t always go on green: Government officials across the country are examining loosening zoning rules to increase housing supply. However, flipping the switch on zoning won’t necessarily translate to an immediate surge in new construction. The Vancouver Sun delves into the role of developers, who are motivated by profits rather than the potential to help increase affordability, with construction timelines determined by market cycles rather than promptings from politicians.
How did Toronto surpass Vancouver as Canada’s most expensive market?: Like New York City or San Francisco in the United States, for decades Vancouver has been viewed as Canada’s runaway leader in rampant real estate prices, with Toronto close behind. However, the Big Smoke has recently claimed top spot and the Toronto Star explores how a combination of factors — including taxes, trees and potential tsunamis — caused Toronto to leapfrog Vancouver as Canada’s most expensive city.
Canada can’t expect to build its way out of housing crisis: For many, home ownership has gone from foregone conclusion to reasonable expectation to pipe dream, with an increasing number of people being priced out of desired neighbourhoods, cities, even provinces altogether. The National Post examines how alternative options like housing co-operatives could address affordability and inequality issues that have contributed to a housing bubble and made it more difficult for first-time buyers and recent immigrants to access the market.
Expanded zoning key to affordable housing and happier homes?: Despite a push for increased supply to meet growing housing demand, multi-family developments are banned in most of the nation’s urban neighbourhoods, creating lopsided communities of haves and have-littles. Charles Montgomery, the author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design, details his co-housing arrangement for The Globe and Mail and explains how exclusionary zoning rules limit both housing options and social connection.
