are taking more time to take flight from the nest<\/a>, and a report this week from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation suggests this is one of the factors encouraging booming reno activity in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201cHousing needs change as a household ages, which will require adapting the current home to meet ever-changing needs,\u201d the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) report reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a large share of young adults staying home longer due to economic and academic considerations, the need for space will remain important,\u201d it continues, noting last year, Ontario\u2019s reno market was a $25 billion business, based on household spending.<\/p>\n
CMHC expects reno activity in Ontario to further ramp up, and Ted Tsiakopoulos, its regional economist for the province, drilled down into other reasons the national housing agency expects spending on renos in the province to continue to swell.<\/p>\n
\u201cOntarians are aging, the housing stock is aging, home prices are on the rise and more homebuyers are turning to the resale market \u2014 all these factors support renovation spending,\u201d says Ted Tsiakopoulos in a statement.<\/p>\n
More than half of Ontario\u2019s homes \u2014 57 per cent, to be exact \u2014 were built before 1980, according to 2011 census numbers, suggesting there are plenty of homes out there in need of some TLC.<\/p>\n
And an aging population is supportive of reno activity because households typically aren\u2019t interested in the idea of moving as they get older, says CMHC.<\/p>\n
This less mobile demographic won\u2019t move unless for reasons related to health and finances, or simply to be closer to friends and family, the agency observes. Long-running census numbers suggest there\u2019s an 80 per cent chance households over the ripe age of 55 would rather stay put.<\/p>\n
Older households are also generally in a better financial position to take on a project than their younger counterparts.<\/p>\n
Provincial resale activity, on track to hit an all-time high in the GTA this year<\/a>, is linked to reno activity as \u201cOntario households undertake renovation work typically within 12 months of an existing home purchase,\u201d says CMHC citing its own analysis.<\/p>\nOntario reno spending isn\u2019t topping pre-recession levels of growth, CMHC notes. But the business is twice as big as it was in 2000, at least relative to the province\u2019s overall economy. Its expected to make up around 4 per cent of the GDP in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Ontarians are improving the curb appeal of their dwellings with landscaping, and they\u2019re giving other rooms facelifts, as well as slapping on new coats of paint and wallpaper, CMHC says, laying out popular projects.<\/p>\n
Of course, they\u2019re also upgrading their basements \u2014 young adults who have yet to move out have got to live somewhere, after all.<\/p>\n
![\"ontario-reno-home\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/ontario-reno-home.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: Adam Rosenberg\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n