CMHC REVEALS HOUSING MARKET OUTLOOK FOR 2024
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has released its highly anticipated Housing Market Outlook, offering a bleak forecast for the housing market, with rising costs and shrinking supply set to create significant challenges, especially for renters. The CMHC report traces the current affordability issues back to interest rate hikes implemented in 2022 to combat inflation. While necessary for macroeconomic stability, these hikes have eroded affordability for potential homebuyers....
read moreLIBERALS’ HOPED-FOR SUPPORT SURGE IN WAKE OF UNDER-40 TARGETED SPENDING BLITZ HAS YET TO MATERIALIZE
A month-long political sales job by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his cabinet and caucus attempting to raise awareness and – crucially – support for a slew of budget spending measures aimed making life affordable for Canadians has yet to pay off. In a bid to climb out of a 20-point deficit in vote intention, this year’s budget invested heavily in Gen Z adults and Millennials, loading $8.5 billion in spending on housing and other affordability measures, to woo Canadians under 40, while...
read more‘AMBITION… NOT MORE RED TAPE’: OTTAWA’S ASSESSING IMPACT OF ALBERTA’S BILL 18 ON HOUSING
The office for federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser says it’s still assessing Alberta’s Bill 18 for potential impacts on future deals with the provincial government that in turn has warned Ottawa to stay in its constitutional lane. Last week, Premier Danielle Smith introduced her government’s Bill 18 — the Provincial Priorities Act, 2024 — in the legislature. It requires provincial approval for any deal between Ottawa and hundreds of provincial entities ranging from municipalities to...
read moreOTTAWA IS FUNDING AFFORDABLE RENTAL PROJECTS THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY AFFORDABLE
When the $86-million low-interest loan for SoHo Italia apartment tower in Ottawa was announced in the summer of 2020, the federal government press release led with the line: “Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home.” The project would provide housing for the middle class and “those working hard to join it,” said Ahmed Hussen, the cabinet minister then responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., which lent the money under the largest program in the Ottawa’s...
read moreWHY JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S ‘BILL OF RIGHTS’ MAY NOT HELP RENTERS IN B.C.
Justin Trudeau’s proposed renters bill of rights is irrelevant without a massive increase in rental stock, say some housing observers. This past week, the prime minister announced measures to help renters as part of the upcoming federal budget, including a requirement for landlords to disclose their properties’ rental price history so renters can bargain fairly. But housing experts say tenants will still face increasing rents due to the lack of rental stock. “In cities where there are very...
read moreMONTREAL ANNOUNCES MEASURE TO INCREASE LANDLORD ACCOUNTABILITY AMID HOUSING CRISIS
The city of Montreal says it wants to crack down on the housing crisis with measures intended to slow rent increases and hold landlords accountable for lack of maintenance. The measures include an inspection blitz of 10,000 housing units in buildings with six or more units this year. The city is also investing $30,000 in an organization that created an online rent registry. Montreal also wants to increase pressure on landlords to conduct repairs by alerting mortgage creditors when a building...
read moreTPG SAID IN TALKS TO BUY CANADA REIT’S MANUFACTURED HOUSING UNIT
Alternative asset manager TPG Inc. is in talks to buy the manufactured housing business of Canadian Apartment Properties REIT, a move by a major US investor to gain exposure to the historically tight real estate market of its northern neighbour. TPG is in exclusive discussions to acquire the business for more than C$700 million ($519 million), according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. A transaction is not imminent and if a deal...
read moreHOUSING WILL BE KEY IN BUDGET 2024. FOR NDP, THAT MEANS RENOVICTION REFORM
Ahead of what’s expected to be a tight federal budget next month, the NDP is calling for a rental protection fund to stop renovictions as part of what the party is coining its “budget demands.” But there’s no word on what such a proposal could cost, or whether it can fit into what Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and others have stressed is a “constrained” fiscal environment. “If we see rents continue to rise the way they are, and if we can continue to see affordable homes being sold off to...
read moreRENT UP 10.5% NATIONWIDE BUT STAGNANT IN MANY ONTARIO MARKETS, INCLUDING HAMILTON AND OSHAWA
The average asking rent for all property types in Canada increased 10.5 per cent annually to $2,193 per month, the fastest annual growth since September 2023 according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation’s latest National Rent Report. Compared to February 2022, just before the onset of interest rate increases by the Bank of Canada, average asking rents in Canada have increased by 21 per cent, translating to a $384 per month increase nation-wide. “The rapid rate of rent growth in Canada is...
read moreCOVID MADE HOUSING UNAFFORDABILITY “CONTAGIOUS”
Our recently released Rental Market Report (PDF) attracted significant attention. It underscores what Canadians have been experiencing for the past several years — there simply is not enough affordable housing in most areas of the country. Canada is facing the lowest national vacancy rate since the 1980s at 1.5% and a sharp increase in rents of 8%. This is well above the historical average of 2.8%. These numbers are very concerning and paint a sobering picture of our current reality. Even in a...
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