Canada’s housing affordability sees significant ‘deterioration,’ report says

Housing affordability saw a “considerable deterioration” in Canada in the third quarter of 2023, according to a new report from the National Bank of Canada.

The report, which comes after improvements over three consecutive quarters, shows that many homeowners are struggling and others feeling unsure they’ll ever break into the housing market.

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Canadians want denser housing so long as that triplex isn’t next door, poll finds

A new poll shows the majority of Canadians support increasing high-density housing — just not in their backyards.

About 60 per cent of Canadians say they support increasing density in cities across the country, according to polling data published today by Pollara Strategic Insights, a market research group. However, when asked how they would feel if a single-family home on their block was converted into a triplex, only about 20 per cent said it would be a “good thing.”

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Canadian homeless activist tells MPs to consider decriminalizing drug trafficking in tent cities

OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian federal housing advocate has suggested that drug trafficking be decriminalized in homeless encampments in the name of “dignity.”

Federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle’s proposal entitled, “Treat Encampment Residents With Dignity And Respect,” encouraged Members of Parliament (MPs) to consider decriminalizing drug trafficking in tent cities, according to an October 25 article by Blacklock’s Reporter.

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Average home price 141% higher than median-earning family can afford in Trudeau’s Canada

The average home price in Canada is 141 per cent higher than what a Canadian household making the median income can afford, according to new data from RATESDOTCA.

The report published Thursday looked at data on home prices and median earnings for Canadian households.

It found that a Canadian family earning the median household income of $79,876 can reasonably afford a $315,000 home, with a maximum insured mortgage of $299,500.

However, the average home price in Canada is currently $757,600, the report noted – considerably pricier than what the average household can afford.

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Anthony Furey: The Affordability Crisis in Canada May Only Be Getting Worse

Over the weekend, Ontario Premier Doug Ford issued a letter calling on the Bank of Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt any upcoming interest rate hikes.

“There is simply no excuse for increasing the already crushing pressure previous interest rate hikes have placed on so many families and businesses,” Ford said.

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Rising number of Canadians struggling to make monthly mortgage payment: survey

TORONTO – A new survey suggests the number of Canadians struggling with their monthly mortgage payment is on the rise, along with worries of potentially higher payments when it comes time to renew with their lender.

Around 15 per cent of borrowers say they find the financial aspect of their mortgage “very difficult,” up from 11 per cent in June and eight per cent in March, according to data released on Monday by the Angus Reid Institute.

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‘I have no fixed address’: A look at encampments for homeless across Canada

Federal housing advocate Marie-Josee Houle has called the spread of homeless encampments in cities across Canada a human rights crisis.

“People living in encampments face some of the most vulnerable circumstances of any member of Canadian society … they have experienced a history of human rights violations and are at heightened risk of further violations,” her office wrote in an interim report on encampments published this month.

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Applications for personal use eviction are up 77% in Toronto, worrying advocates

Data shows the number of applications landlords have filed to evict tenants for personal use in 2023 so far has already surpassed the total number of applications in 2022.

In Ontario, landlords can use something called an N12 eviction notice to force tenants to move out of an apartment if the owner, a member of their immediate family, or a caregiver wants to move in. An N12 can also be issued for the same reasons by someone who’s just bought a property.

From January through September 2023, 1,767 N12 evictions have been applied for in Toronto, according to data from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). That’s well above the total applications made in 2022: 1,312.

Not a surprise thanks to Trudeaunomics.

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Toronto eyes cheaper, long-term shelter model as hundreds turned away nightly

New $674.5M capital plan would increase shelter beds by 1,600 over next decade

Over half of Toronto’s shelter spaces for the unhoused aren’t financially sustainable, according to city civil servants proposing a new 10-year plan to replace them with city-owned facilities.

Staff are making the pitch in a capital plan aimed at fundamentally changing the way the city operates its shelters for people experiencing homelessness.

The city added thousands of shelter beds during the pandemic to create necessary space between people using the service, signing leases with hotels to provide the accommodations. But staff have long-warned that those leases are set to expire in late 2024 and are not financially viable in the long-term.

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Number of ‘ghost hotels’ in Toronto contributing to housing crisis, surging prices, critics say

Advocates say short-term rentals listed on Airbnb are showing up in some Toronto condo buildings in concerning numbers, contributing to the deterioration of local neighbourhoods and the surge in rental prices.

A new analysis of City of Toronto data by non-profit advocacy group Fairbnb Canada found that 600 short-term rentals, also known as STRs, are located within three condo buildings alone.

The group’s executive director, Thorben Wieditz, says it raises concerns over whether these units are operating as “ghost hotels” without being zoned or taxed that way.

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After double digit rent hike, High Park tenants consider how to fight back together

After fleeing his home in Ukraine, Volodymyr Komliev and his family have found themselves a new place to live in a High Park apartment building — but after hearing about the rent increases his neighbours experienced this year, he’s worried if they’ll be able to stay.

Komliev said when they looked for a new place to live with their four-year-old daughter, they knew a big city would be expensive. But they didn’t expect rents could increase so much each year — some tenants saying they’ve received between six to 11 per cent year-over-year hikes, according to the building’s tenant association.

Mass immigration evidently helps reduce housing shortages we’re told.

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Average rent went up another 11% in past year — and even getting a roommate doesn’t help much

Canada’s rental crisis is getting worse, according to a new report that found the average asking price for rent in September was $2,149 — up by more than 11 per cent compared to a year ago.

That’s according a data analysis of tens of thousands of new rental listings across the country from Rentals.ca and real estate consulting and research firm Urbanation.

And according to the September report, average rents aren’t just headed up — they’re increasing at their fastest pace this year.

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No silver bullet when it comes to solving Toronto’s rental woes, experts say

When it comes to solving a problem as complicated as Toronto’s housing crisis, there’s no such thing as a silver bullet, says one expert.

CBC Toronto spoke to Douglas Kwan, the director of advocacy and legal services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, and other housing experts after hearing from hundreds of our readers about how hard it is to be a tenant in the city. We asked them about some of your most popular ideas to help curb the rampant unaffordability.

Justin will keep the immigration floodgates open so why bother speculating about a fix?

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