For years the Toronto Real Estate Board has raised awareness about the crisis of housing and shortage of housing supply in Ontario, in terms of freehold homes, as well as condos and apartments. Despite media reports that there "are too many condos being built", the reality is that more people move to Toronto and Ontario each year in search of its prosperous job market, manufacturing facilities in automotive, agricultural, energy and green tech, as well as fintech markets. Not to mention the overall safety of living in Ontario compared to other places in the world, as well as free and excellent schools for kids, higher learning for students and free to minimal cost healthcare.
The reality is that volume of house or condo sales may rise or fall, however overall housing prices continue to rise, despite economic woes and global pandemics and the war in Ukraine. This causes affordability issues for younger professionals especially those wanting to buy in the Greater Toronto Area, but also those in Hamilto, Kitchener, Waterloo, Kingston, and of course Ottawa.
We are hopeful that Premier Doug Ford will make some improvements in the housing shortfall and also provide some new imaginative options in general, and in particular for younger people recently graduated from college or University and seeking to gain a footing in the housing market. Buying a home in the long term is one of the single most important investment decisions for young people and newcomers to Ontario, Canada.
Rental supply is also a challenge for those who cannot afford to purchase. It is hoped that the Premier will introduce more relief in the rental market and reverse a decision to allow builders/developers/landlords the abilitty to increase monthly rental prices beyond the approx 2.5% per year to account for cost of living increases. Its not sustainable for Landlords to be allowed to increase rent prices by $200 - $300 per month when job salaries are not increasing accordingly and the cost of living gets higher.