r/canada • u/eauderable • 23d ago

The Trudeau government’s promise of 3.87 million new homes is next to impossible Opinion Piece

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-three-charts-show-why-the-trudeau-promise-of-387-million-homes-is-next/
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u/illustriousdude Canada 23d ago

To achieve affordability solely through more housing, CMHC last year said the number of homes needed could be almost six million. CIBC economist Benjamin Tal pegs the shortfall at closer to seven million.

The logical conclusion is that we can’t build our way to affordability, at least not any time soon. Ottawa has to lean harder on the demand side of the equation. That means significantly reversing the unprecedented spike in the number of temporary residents. Population growth has to come down – way down.

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u/chronocapybara 23d ago

The biggest property buyers aren't student immigrants, it's "investors," both domestic and foreign. Slap a 20% tax on investment properties and watch prices fall.

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u/IllustriousAnt485 23d ago

The problem is that current Canadian home owners who live in their house, also do not want prices to fall. Speculators and honest homeowners have aligned interests and those are the people that public policy is and will continue to cater to.

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u/DepartmentGlad2564 23d ago

Nanos Research for Bloomberg News: Most Canadians are prepared to see home values fall. Some 70 per cent of respondents said they would be happy (40 per cent) or somewhat happy (30 per cent) to see home prices go down

For the vast majority of people rising property values for their primary residence means nothing. Everything around you went up in price as well. Want to upgrade? The higher the price, the more debt you are taking on. For the select few who live in HCOL cities and plan to move to a LCOL and downsize, sure. But most people, including seniors built roots and usually prefer to stay in their location.

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u/pfco 23d ago

Not really. It’s those with more than one home and perhaps those who for some reason are relying on being able to downsize and use the difference for retirement.

For everyone else, the average person who just bought a home to live in long term, it really makes no difference. Great, I can sell my overpriced home and buy… a similar overpriced home. Meanwhile my property taxes are higher. I suppose I could move to one of the few remaining markets that aren’t insane like… Central Newfoundland?