Ontario housing slumps, developers warn situation will 'get worse' before improving

Building hundreds of thousands of homes annually is one of Ontario's most pressing priorities, however, the construction industry has been in a slump – thanks to a perfect storm.

Two years and multiple housing laws since the Ford government promised to build 1.5 million new homes in a decade to solve the province’s housing crisis, key indicators suggest home construction is grinding to a trickle.

The number of housing starts in the first half of 2024 has lagged behind the previous year, while June saw a 44-per cent drop year-on-year. At the same time, new home sales, which can predict future home construction, are also falling.

Global’s Colin D’Mello reports.

#GlobalNews #Ontario #Housing

[oakhenge]

You don't fix the housing crisis by building more homes people can't afford!

[TheDaughterOfYah_]

It's not a slump, it's a depression.

[DrSpooglemon]

NEWSFLASH: No one can afford a home because they are too F-ing expensive!!!

[jaerogoth]

Watching Ford swing a hammer like a 5 year old child that's never seen one before is priceless

[alexsteven.m]

Back in the day, when I purchased my first home to live-in; that was Miami in the early 1990s, first mortgages with rates of 8 to 9% and 9% to 10% were typical. People will have to accept the possibility that we won't ever return to 3%. If sellers must sell, home prices will have to decline, and lower evaluations will follow. Pretty sure I'm not alone in my chain of thoughts.

[hillsje]

A lot of construction companies are engaging in profiteering. Charging huge amounts for average or poor quality homes, while seeking gov’t handouts. Slapping up cookie-cutter homes in claustrophobic subdivisions, all for huge profits.
It isn’t fair to purely blame the Gov’t.

[rsahota]

People don’t need big mansion houses they need more smaller and cheaper houses, most couples are having 1 or 2 children if any.

[tothelighthouse]

People WANT to own! But not everyone needs or wants a $1 million home in these cookie cutter suburbs that are paving over Ontario's precious farm land.

Doug Ford has refused to allow options beyond large single family homes & plexes. We want small 4 - 8 unit multiplexes where we can own single units! We want small one or two bedroom homes, on small lots or 2 per lot so we can afford them. There are many affordable options, but Doug Ford is more interested in demands of his developer cronies than he is in the wants & needs of Ontarians.

[RoboJules]

Canada's entire housing market is one of the most extreme bubbles in human history, rivaling the Dutch tulip mania. This has nothing to do with interest rates, and everything to do with investors trying to squeeze as much return out of every asset as possible, to the point that it does not align with reality. We are the second largest country on the planet with a population less than the state of California. There is absolutely no real-world reason why houses should cost this much outside of rampant speculation. Some economists have calculated that Canadian home prices are overinflated by around 400%.

[skipperd]

Canadians are tired, sick of inflation, overload immigration, potential job loss, anyone will jump buy the house today can be in trouble tomorrow. We need responsible government.

Stop building homes that sell for millions of dollars that people cant afford. This is a not enough profit for greedy developers problem that holds Canadians hostage. poilievre will protect the developers and point fingers away from the issue.

[gentlegiants]

My family was poor and we lived for 2 years in what was call a "wartime bungalow" back in the early 80's. Even poor folks then could afford them. The house is still there, still lived in by someone, it was 2 bedrooms, a small kitchen/dining and a living room with unfinished basement. Nice backyard to play in, quiet neighbourhood close to school and church. Today I could build the same house for under 100 grand sawing lumber myself.
We have too many regulations, stupid rules, building code restrictions, permits, fees, on and on.

[pplnlrl]

The problem is, they`re not building affordable homes, it`s million dollar homes.

[robertdmci]

Only talk about the tip of the iceberg. Who made the policy to ruin the local economy, raised inflation and support a war leading nowhere? Who made the immigration policy that caused millions to come to big cities already facing a housing shortage? Everyone is trying to find a scapegoat but refuses to look in the mirror. Try harder to find a scapegoat please! 😂

[lightningsparksky]

Your all greedy your pricing a pre-selling unit as it was built who can afford the garbage your building. Not to many makes over 200 grand and can pay $4-5K per month not including bills and property tax. You’re making too much money on people who just want to live a descent life.

[lotsoflaughs]

Too many gov’t fees and land transfer taxes at civic, provincial and federal levels. It’s a money grab.

[jeremymacdonald]

tens of thousands of homes across the country are empty. foreign buyers and criminals buy houses with cash. take out mortgages to launder the money. once that bubble bursts the market will crash top to bottom.

[paulacheese]

It's hard to purchase a million dollar starter home in a country that takes half your income in taxes.

[YT-qmpk]

They are portraying this issue like average person really care. These builder dont build for average people. Average people cannot buy when construction is booming or slumping. So as average person do I really care not really. An average young person is going to be slave to landlords for life.

[canadianguy]

Lets keep bringing in millions of people from India. That will 100% help and not make all of our problems worse /s On a serious note, we should all be writing our MP's to get them to close these migration pathways and to start deporting anyone who's not a Canadian Citizen. While simultaneously making it much more difficult to apply for permanent residency and asylum There are over 5 million non Canadians in this country that's 5 million potential homes for actual Canadians.