'I'll never be able to afford property': Housing costs key issue for Ontario voters

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When Thiago Lang and his wife began searching for a Greater Toronto Area home last year, they spent most weekends viewing about 15 properties and weekdays placing up to five bids – often over asking – on houses that sold for astronomical prices.

"My agent said, 'You're playing a fair game, but the market right now isn't being fair,'" Lang, a software company product director, recalled of the search that saw the couple look everywhere from Hamilton to Durham and even Bowmanville.

The average Greater Toronto Area home sold for $910,290 in February 2020, before the pandemic’s first lockdown. It climbed to above $1.2 million in April 2022, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said. Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford is hoping to get re-elected on a promise to build 1.5 million homes over 10 years – a key recommendation from a government-appointed task force. Legislation that was passed shortly before the election call contained measures to speed up approvals and other processes, but lacked bolder steps such as changing municipal zoning rules to allow more housing to be built aside from single-family homes.

The Liberals have adopted the same 1.5 million target and pledge to work with municipalities to allow homes with up to three units and two storeys, as well as secondary and laneway suites to be built as of right. They also have promised a tax on homes that are sitting empty, and to introduce a "use it or lose it" tax on developers.

Meanwhile, Lang wants to end blind bidding, a widely used practice where sellers don't disclose competing bids.

 

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Pull up your socks and make more coin’

40-50% tax on investment properties… if you own a home and are buying another for additional passive income you have too much money..

I believe most Canadians feel the same way like this family that we will never own a home with these high prices.

A good portion of Canadians have always been unable to afford housing.That's why we have low income housing.Forget about taxpayers buying you a house its near impossible money wise.

Then move somewhere affordable. Your entitlement is showing...

Do you people think that this will get better with the NDP or Liberal government….the financial crises that people are having is because of the federal coalition.

It's disgusting

You better be careful putting that online… the current fascist government might suggest… euthanasia aka “assisted suicide” Just say’n

Canadian residential real estate is a zero-sum game. Not some rising tide that lifts all boats. Wealth that would have gone to productive ends is diverted to feather the nests of existing homeowners. The longer this persists, the more painful the necessary adjustment will be.

Take away the Bank of Canada ability to counterfeit money and stop fractional reserve banking by the too big to fail Canadian banks !!

Too many renters carry the mortgage for multiple dwelling owners. Young families cannot afford a house.

Well don’t look for Doug Ford to help with affordable housing! He only cares to make business owners rich!

Government polices are purely to blame.Immigration rates over power housing supply (for decades),too much red tape,taxes,taxes,taxes.

My son and his fiace are leaving Ontario and moving to Calgary because they can't afford to buy real estate in the GTA where they were born & raised. They have a combined family income over $100k and $60k down payment and its not enough. Can't even afford a condo here.

Stress test, land transfer tax, real estate fees should be addressed to help bring down costs.

Let me get this straight...Bowmanville was an option, but they had to 'settle' on Barrie? This is a crock of 💩 if I ever read one...

Canada is a big country with jobs and affordable housing aplenty outside of southern ON. Go on Indeed and you see tons of jobs in north ON, MB and SK where a three bdrm house sells for well under $500k. Newcomers who do their research in advance will avoid settling in the GTA.

I can't afford the special assessment at my condo, but nobody is going to make that easier either.

There is a sacrifice… i paid 50% of the price in Barrie for a decent single home. I used to live in a townhouse in Burlington. There are options…

Stop this stupid blind bidding. Buyers, stop paying above the list price… we the buyers, we have the power… we just don’t use it! What if every single offer a seller receive is actually under the list price? Would they still selling it? I guess so…

It's not realistic to think you can purchase your first home in Toronto, and quite frankly why the hell would you want to? Move to where you can afford, there is good jobs everywhere if you want to work, leave the house and have initiative. Stop crying about it, make it happen!

Sadly true for most people under 30; including people starting over

I’m sure the next step is to sue the province

they don't want us to have property. they want us in a pod.

This is a result of prolonged low interest rates couples with high demand and very low supply. Claiming interest rates will cool housing costs a bit but the supply issue needs to be resolved. One thing give cooks do is cap foreign ownership to one property!

Something has to be done about new builds in subdivisions. Most homes in the subdivisions are pre sold to investors before the homes are even built! Leaving about 20% of those 300 homes open for the public to buy! There should be a restriction on this. This is the problem.

Oh, wait .... how is that MY PROBLEM? You want me to buy you a house You want the Government to use my TAX MONEY to buy you a house? You want SPECIAL HAND OUTS AT MY EXPENSE so you can buy a house? How is your FINANCIAL SITUATION MY PROBLEM? 💩I OWE YOU JACKSH!T💩

Families are priced out by investors. Only in Canada!

My son just bought a house in Nova Scotia because they couldn’t even afford to RENT in Ontario. This is THE issue right now. The future of this province is leaving.

Canada should ban corporations (local and foreign) like REITs, Pension funds, etc from buying RE. These corporations are treating housing market like a stock market and they don’t pay taxes on their gains.

Old school..ownership is a privilege ..earned through education and hardwork ..if you want it make it happen …yeah it might mean 2 jobs …I did it and got it …stop whining and step up

Call it what it is. We have a house hoarding problem. There's enough for everyone, but yet we keep allowing investors to buy buy buy and charge ridiculous amounts for resale and rent.

Then don’t vote for liberals. But people in Ontario want low housing costs & vote liberal lol

Unfortunately the younger generation have only been taught how to spend and not save my parents lived through the Great Depression and they learned how to save and succeeded with hard work and determination

Do not worry. NDP will provide first time home buyer's free new homes!

Thank your local free market loving CONservative

Even bidding wars on Renting a home.

It was the same topic of discussion during Federal elections and nothing changed. If anything is worse

Homeownership isnt easy. Markets go up and down. Tough to see this but its the free market. Rent. Save your money then buy.

Until they start charging heavy taxes on people that are exploiting the system by buying multiple houses as 'investments' to rent out and pay of their mortgages with the tenants rent money, this system is going to hell 'Building more' does absolutely nothing. We need rent control

This isn't just an Ontario issue, this is going on across Canada.

this is sad, people paying high rent can't afford to save for a house now?

Thanks to our liberal government

Why you can afford one?

You need to look further afield that the GTA. I just looked at real estate in Sudbury. Many houses for under $200,000.

Our leaders doesnt have balls to cut the red tape and increase construction in other areas!

What would be the impact of a significant downturn to the housing market on the overall economy in a province like Ontario?

Just throwing it out there….if affordable housing becomes available, is there certain criteria that must be met And so if it’s only available to ‘that group’… then isn’t the same concept? 🤔

Rent is beyond most of us too.

We moved to Sudbury..to our surprise (sort of) the prices are starting to reflect down here. Plus it's 1 of 3 highest property taxes in Ontario. So in the end, it's not different than here now. Either something significant happens or it's going to get really bad

Plenty of properties in Northern Ontario. Communities are also hurting for health care professionals. The fishing and hunting is great. Def is affordable

They bought a house in Barrie, what are they crying about? Stop being a sucker, learn the rules of the game and stop waiting for politicians to come save you. People have the biggest loser mentalities these days.

Housing costs?!?!?! FU How about dropping all mandates...so we don't have to a prisoner in our own shit run country..beside housing costs are cheaper down south..time to leave if you have a chance.

In the meantime Politicians are buy to burn our tax money to Ukraine!! Almost every stuff prices are going to rocket high… but our politicians r busy with Ukraine! Disturbing! Just disturbing!

Yes indeed crazy over heated and unrealistic prices in Toronto that pose a huge problem of affordability for young couples! This must be a priority now!

Yet the PCs still leading in the polls 🤦

Look at Air BnB. Lots of multiple bedroom, multi bathroom, pet friendly homes with yards.... for rich tourists.

Corporations will own everything and maybe they'll allow you the privilege of renting from them.

The bank created mortgages to lend money and create debt. You don't need your own home in gta. You WANT your own home. Go out of gta and you can afford a home at 450k

We protest on parliment to be free from masks but do nothing to protest the rising cost of food becuase of gas prices, if your not going to eat you may as well wear the mask. The government needs to regulate again to keep the market stable.

This is what I don’t understand why is it the Government’s fault that some people can’t afford to buy a house.

Tax the olds.

Housing costs are out of control, same with rents. How does someone who gets 1k to 1500k a month afford 2k rent. Ya can't. Then Ontario housing has a 3 to 7 yr wait plus. Something needs to be done and soon.

Then Look for jobs outside of Toronto or Ontario. Manitoba, Saskatchewan the east coast. Way cheaper cost of living and lots of jobs. Don’t whine if you’re not willing to do anything you can to make Life easier.

So homeowners should sacrifice their equity for those who cannot afford homes? When most homes are mortgaged above that “affordability,” what will happen when you try to push housing prices below it? Banks will not show mercy then. Even Bernie Sanders doesn’t attack home owners.

Housing has become part of an investment portfolio. Local councils approve luxury estate homes on 2 acre lots. The bubble is going to burst...leaving behind a mushroom cloud.

Not everyone will be able to afford a house i want M3 but im not complaining

Me too I cannot afford and I am a Canadian!!

My parents never owned a home. The expectation of owning property right out of college is a novel phenomenon.

Rent prices are a huge issue. Most wont be able to afford even a bachelor's apartment on their own. Or if they can they wont be able to buy food. It absolutely ridiculous they they passed this bill. It slipped in absolutely unnoticed!! ProtestOntarioRentPrices

Homeownership is not a right.

And you still decided to have kids! Good job!

Getting into a million dollar debt trap is the worst thing that could happen to you right now with increasing interest rates and sky high house prices. Unless you have sh*tloads of money, do you really wnt to work away atleast next 15-20 years of your life just to pay a builder?

Housing shortage, but hey let’s just bring in an extra 120,000 immigrants to Canada every year

I've noticed over the years that doing hard drugs & alcohol help me forget that I live under a bridge

People say housing prices crisis is due to Liberals. Ontario is the worst affected area in terms of housing prices , which has Conservatives as the ruling party. All of these(including NDP who has supported Liberals) are the same.

The article literally says they bought a house in Barrie. This is ridiculous.

How about the part where they bought the house and now it's worth 10% more already

Isn’t this a problem everywhere / all world class cities ? NY, LA, Sam Fran, Paris, all of Switzerland, Japan, etc etc etc. ?

That and gas.....

Keep bringing million immigrants and international students, and enjoy the consequences.

Not a single politician will fix this housing crisis.. bringing in more homes at 1M+ does not solve the problem. Ban foreigners from owning anything in Canada and don’t allow anyone to own more than 2-3 homes/properties in their name. Put your extra money in the stock market.

So move to another part of this country. Why is this news?

They better vote Fordo out then because he only works for his friends

This article is a joke

Interest rates are only going up. That means Mortgage rates will be twice as high this time next year.

We're on the verge of never being able to afford rent..a property is LotoMax money, let's face it, low and middle class Canadians it's all roach and bedbug infested slums, trailer parks and tent cities from now on..hopefully global warming is gonna kick in soon. Canada

If you can sell some kidneys.

I’m afraid a global revolution is around the corner, no matter how you vote and whom you voted for the affordability will just be the keen matter remains unsolved

People are leaving Ontario. Most are going east, but I was shocked when one friend said she was going to Alberta because it’s cheaper. That’s a new thing

And what precisely have the conservatives done about it? Zip. Yet they'll likely get re-elected. Remember when they pledged to do something about electricity rates before they were elected? Yep, they were counting on you forgetting.

Too bad, so sad. The governments job is to increase GDP by increasing immigration and house prices. Enjoy renting or the rest of your life. If you don't like it, then move. Don't worry, when you leave, they'll be 10 others here to replace you by the time you start packing.

Solution is not on real states nor in government regulations or aids. But the flatness of the canada cities and the lack of subway&LRT makes not profitable the public transit, to the point of make it ridiculous. Cities like the European ones have strong transit communications.

Keep voting Liberal and NDP the anti job, anti resource, anti construction party of Canada.

This is NOT buy and demand issues!! I live 40 minutes north of Toronto and a three bedroom house costs $4k/month to rent. 40% of the houses in my subdivision are rented out and 90% of the owners are Chinese living in China. There are empty house sitting in here with no one…

There’s other parts of canada / provinces you can move to people need to realize this ! Toronto / the GTA is not the only spot in canada !

The response of politicians to housing affordability is grandstanding. If each person can only own one residential property (or two when moving), then housing will become available.

There have been people in all ages who could have never afford to buy one. I remember in 1990, 2000, 2010 and now, there always have been a segment of ppl. It’s not new

Move out of Ontario.

Hate to say it, but these GTA housing prices will never be affordable again. Maybe this is the start of the population starting to disperse, and hopefully jobs follow. We need more economic centres across the country, rather than concentrated in 5 cities nationwide

Try not to worry, big dougie will help you out!

Unfortunately, not everyone will own a home. Costs will always rise. The gov can only help so much since market supply and demand set market value rental rate etc. what the gov can do for low income earners if offer a subsidy to support affordable rent.

Part of the problem is the feds bringing in immigrants at greater numbers than they are able to put infrastructure in place to support them.

STOP SAYING HOME OWNERSHIP! call it what we are really thinking - house ownership. Condos are an option also, but most people equate owning a home with owning a HOUSE

I’ll start to vote again, once the government starts to remove taxes.

Anyone that thinks that a traditional home in a popular area will ever be affordable for most are kidding themselves. If you have a marketable skill the smart play is to leave Canada as things will only get worse.

I'm all for immigration but it needs to be controlled until we sort out the housing. Bringing millions of immigrants only make life harder for Canadians who have been here a long time

It seems that gov’t has no intention of fixing housing, since they’re addicted to land transfer taxes, etc. any body know what these monies are going to? A lot of pockets must be nicely lined

First World problems

home ownership value is a concept pushed in North America. bigger issue is lack of purposefully designed and affordable rentals. You can still be financially set for retirement by not leaning on the value of your home with smart investing

Greedy sellers in the problem. They are still trying to cash in. Wake up! The days of bidding wars are over. No one is buying at the prices you are peddling. Greed Greed Greed! Sales have dropped and prices have not. Helloooooo!

System is broken TBH

Build more houses and transit, we have tons of space, this ain't HK

The response of politicians to housing affordability is grandstanding. An effective response, going forward, is to restrict ownership. If each person can only own one residential property (or two when moving), then housing will become available.

JUSTIN F🍁 CK TRUDEAU SCREWED OVER CANADIANS 🇨🇦. THE GOVERNMENT NEED TO BRING GAS PRICES ⛽️ DOWN RENT FOOD COSTS CANCEL CARBON TAX ETC ETC. HE REALLY SCREWED US BIG TIME.

pulte come build affordable homes in 🇨🇦 Good sir

Thanks Liberals! Nobody can afford anything anymore. 🙃

That is because the government allow Chinese people to buy up all the property without restrictions

Prices are dropping. New inventory may get built. Foreign investors are not and were never the problem. Hope lies ahead.

Trudeau government should teach you to never rely on the government for anything. Things have gotten so much worse since 2015’

Move out is an option

Its ok, all of Canada has this problem

Yes life's not fair. Welcome to adulthood.

South of the border, real houses with REAL BACKYARDS at 50% the price we pay here

But you can drive over once beautiful paved green spaces, while you choke on smog! This doesn’t interest you? VoteFordOut FordWillLose

Only a recession will fix it. Justin is getting close to it now.

Literally if anyone can’t afford living in Ontario then he should consider moving to a more affordable province 🤔🤔

but you will have highways...

I’ve heard politicians saying they’ll make housing cheaper for at least 10 years. Make speed trains and connect remote communities to business hubs like Toronto and Ottawa. People can live further but commute less.

What about the people that can’t afford to rent because of Doug ford?

Buy a tent and live in the park .

How about leave toronto ? Move north lots of cheap options Idiots want a starter pack in Rosedale for 200k fishing

Boohoo

Don’t worry - Doug Ford is promising you the option of buying a $2M house on the Holland Marsh

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