Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a housing announcement with Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland at a press event in Toronto, on Dec. 21.CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.
Toronto reaches $471-million housing deal with Ottawa to build 53,000 units in the next decade
In an announcement in Toronto this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the $471-million deal will produce 12,000 homes in the first three years – the largest agreement yet through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, writes Oliver Moore and Jeff Gray. One-quarter of the money will flow immediately, with the rest disbursed over three years. In return, the city has pledged measures that include speeding up home approvals, increasing the supply of rental homes and protecting existing rental stock. Critics have said the agreement is only one step toward addressing the city’s massive affordability problems.
Canada’s inflation rate holds surprisingly steady
The Consumer Price Index rose 3.1 per cent in November from a year earlier, matching October’s increase, Statistics Canada said Tuesday in a report — surprising Bay Street analysts who were expecting the inflation rate to lower down to 2.9 per cent. Mortgage interest costs are still rising by around 30 per cent, year over year, as homeowners face the impact of higher borrowing rates, writes Matt Lundy. Economists and investors continue to expect the Bank of Canada will start to lower its benchmark interest rate in the spring or summer of 2024. In anticipation of those moves, bond yields have tumbled since October, a welcome development for people renewing their mortgages.
This week’s lowest available mortgage rates
The economic vibe for 2024 is like a mixtape of bad songs: high inflation, elevated interest rates, wobbly home values, stricter regulations, rising unemployment and escalating loan defaults. But if rates tumble as expected, 2024 could have some surprise hits among the B-sides, writes Robert McLister in his weekly column. Some advice for next year: hold off loading the truck on bank stocks until the BoC takes a chainsaw to rates, look into investing in a mortgage investment corporations, and expect mortgage stocks to fall.
Opinion: B.C. drafted a bold housing blueprint. The rest of Canada should copy it
In the fight to alleviate the housing shortage, there’s been no shortage of good ideas. What has been too often absent is political will, writes The Globe’s Editorial Board. Policy ideas started to become political reality only this year. But it is B.C. Premier David Eby and his government that have gone the furthest, in the province where housing prices first spiralled out of control. Cities in B.C. have been instructed to quickly loosen their zoning rules. This includes, without special permissions, multiple homes on a residential lot and significant density near busy transit hubs. They’ve set a template for the rest of the country to follow.
Turn your home’s empty bedroom into $875 in monthly rent
We need practical measures that work right now, not over the years required to plan and build new condos, townhomes and houses, writes Rob Carrick. He’s written before about multigeneration housing, where different generations of a family live together. But another thought is homesharing, where people rent out unused bedrooms in their home and share amenities like the kitchen and yard.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
