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If you plot Canadian housing supply vs Canadian city population growth, you get another perspective. Houses are incredibly expensive, because there aren't enoug

by nikanj 5y ago

If you plot Canadian housing supply vs Canadian city population growth, you get another perspective. Houses are incredibly expensive, because there aren't enough of them

_v7gu 5y ago
No, no. It's the foreigners' fault. Hypocrisy and xenophobia will fix everything without having to create actually livable cities where people aren't slaves to cars.
- hamter 5y ago
  don't worry we're happy to do both transit and xenophobia in canada (unless the next administration cancels the transit plans) (they will)
  - ant6n 5y ago
    In many places, Canada also does celebrating diversity and living car-culture very well.
- JohnWhigham 5y ago
  You're living a very naive reality if you don't think foreign investors buying properties that sit vacant 11 months out of the year contributes to the housing problem.
refurb 5y ago
Barrie, Ontario is in the middle of nowhere and houses cost $1M. Same with Kelowna, BC and Halifax, NS has doubled in price. That's not population growth, that's speculation. The Toronto suburbs are already falling in price and Canada is only ~1 month into 4-5 rate hikes this year. And unlike the US: 1) most mortgages need to be renewed in a much higher interest rate environment and 2) a lot of Canada has recourse loans - they can come after your other assets if you sell you house for less than the loan value. No sending the keys to bank and walking away like in the US. Toronto and Vancouver cores will correct, but rebound. Small towns and suburbs? It's going to be a bloodbath.
- nikanj 5y ago
  "Greater Kelowna is the fastest-growing urban area in the country, Statistics Canada reported Friday. The Central Okanagan's population rose 14% between 2016 and 2021, from 194,892 to 222,162, according to information gathered during last year's census." In fact, all three of your examples are on the list of fastest growing locations - Halifax at 8th and Barrie at 13th https://canadamag.ca/fastest-growing-cities-in-canada/ https://canadamag.ca/fastest-growing-cities-in-canada/
  - refurb 5y ago
    "Fastest growing urban area in Canada" is like the "fastest sprinter at the senior center". Sure it's fast relative to other cities, but not in an absolute sense. Kelowna grew 14% over 5 years? So 2.7% a year? Or 5,500 people per year? Kelowna is a tiny town in the middle of BC. Jobs are scarce. Vast swaths of undeveloped land surround the town. Wages are pretty typical, yet a modest house is $1,000,000. Does that make any sense? Your list has Kamloops. Have you been to Kamloops? It's an old saw mill town. Again, lots of room to build. Houses are $800,000 to $1,000,000. You can buy a small house, within San Francisco city limits for $1.5M. This is where wages are 2x that of Canada. Mortgages are 30-year fixed and there is no room to build any more houses and it's surrounded by water on 3 sides. So why would Kelowna cost just 33% less than San Francisco? I could see arguing downtown Toronto and Vancouver are "pricey" but not ridiculous, but Kelowna? And your list has Edmonton! One of the fastest growing cities! But wait, it's actually one of the cheapest too. What's going on? Like I said, bloodbath.
    - kasey_junk 5y ago
      Kelowna is part of the Okanagan tourist area and on the lake. What happens to the analysis of home prices when you remove the houses within walking distance to the water? It’s been a few years since I was there but last I was it had the very common tourist pattern of expensive vacation homes near the water for wealthy part time occupants and reasonable housing further away for permanent residents. Frankly that area was better than many tourist areas where workers have to commute long distances to live in crap apartments or worse dormitories.

by nikanj 5y ago

If you plot Canadian housing supply vs Canadian city population growth, you get another perspective. Houses are incredibly expensive, because there aren't enough of them

_v7gu 5y ago

No, no. It's the foreigners' fault. Hypocrisy and xenophobia will fix everything without having to create actually livable cities where people aren't slaves to cars.

hamter 5y ago
don't worry we're happy to do both transit and xenophobia in canada (unless the next administration cancels the transit plans) (they will)
- ant6n 5y ago
  In many places, Canada also does celebrating diversity and living car-culture very well.
JohnWhigham 5y ago
You're living a very naive reality if you don't think foreign investors buying properties that sit vacant 11 months out of the year contributes to the housing problem.

refurb 5y ago

Barrie, Ontario is in the middle of nowhere and houses cost $1M. Same with Kelowna, BC and Halifax, NS has doubled in price. That's not population growth, that's speculation. The Toronto suburbs are already falling in price and Canada is only ~1 month into 4-5 rate hikes this year. And unlike the US: 1) most mortgages need to be renewed in a much higher interest rate environment and 2) a lot of Canada has recourse loans - they can come after your other assets if you sell you house for less than the loan value. No sending the keys to bank and walking away like in the US. Toronto and Vancouver cores will correct, but rebound. Small towns and suburbs? It's going to be a bloodbath.

nikanj 5y ago
"Greater Kelowna is the fastest-growing urban area in the country, Statistics Canada reported Friday. The Central Okanagan's population rose 14% between 2016 and 2021, from 194,892 to 222,162, according to information gathered during last year's census." In fact, all three of your examples are on the list of fastest growing locations - Halifax at 8th and Barrie at 13th https://canadamag.ca/fastest-growing-cities-in-canada/ https://canadamag.ca/fastest-growing-cities-in-canada/
- refurb 5y ago
  "Fastest growing urban area in Canada" is like the "fastest sprinter at the senior center". Sure it's fast relative to other cities, but not in an absolute sense. Kelowna grew 14% over 5 years? So 2.7% a year? Or 5,500 people per year? Kelowna is a tiny town in the middle of BC. Jobs are scarce. Vast swaths of undeveloped land surround the town. Wages are pretty typical, yet a modest house is $1,000,000. Does that make any sense? Your list has Kamloops. Have you been to Kamloops? It's an old saw mill town. Again, lots of room to build. Houses are $800,000 to $1,000,000. You can buy a small house, within San Francisco city limits for $1.5M. This is where wages are 2x that of Canada. Mortgages are 30-year fixed and there is no room to build any more houses and it's surrounded by water on 3 sides. So why would Kelowna cost just 33% less than San Francisco? I could see arguing downtown Toronto and Vancouver are "pricey" but not ridiculous, but Kelowna? And your list has Edmonton! One of the fastest growing cities! But wait, it's actually one of the cheapest too. What's going on? Like I said, bloodbath.
  - kasey_junk 5y ago
    Kelowna is part of the Okanagan tourist area and on the lake. What happens to the analysis of home prices when you remove the houses within walking distance to the water? It’s been a few years since I was there but last I was it had the very common tourist pattern of expensive vacation homes near the water for wealthy part time occupants and reasonable housing further away for permanent residents. Frankly that area was better than many tourist areas where workers have to commute long distances to live in crap apartments or worse dormitories.