Investors now make up 25 per cent of the housing market, making it harder for average income
people to own a home.
According to CBC Radio, with house prices consistently rising, many Canadians are worried that owning a home is just a dream these days.
Garrett McPhee has been trying to find a home for a year and he told The Current’s Matt Galloway that owning a home is going to be something only the rich can do and average working people won’t be able to.
Tehmeema Safdar says she and her husband have dreamed about buying a home in Toronto to put down roots for their kids but whenever they save up enough money the prices rise.
“We’re trying to chase our dreams,” Safdar said in an interview with CBC News.
“it’s unusual in the sense that investors now make up the biggest segment of buyers in Ontario,” John Pasalis from Realosophy Realty said in a CBC News interview, “they surpass first-time buyers, they surpass the number of people moving.”
According to Pasalis investors are optimistic when prices rise and can push them higher than they should be, which makes the market very vulnerable.
Ron Butler, founder of Butler Mortgage said he has seen investors outbid a lot of his first-time buyers.
“I think we’re approaching moments of literal despair amongst some families looking to purchase homes in Ontario,” Butler said in an interview with CBC News.
Butler said that if this continues there will be a generational shift where people will start leaving the province.
Safdar said that she and her family are possibly looking at leaving altogether and giving up on the Great Toronto Area, according to CBC News.
The Liberal Housing Plan believes that “every Canadian deserves a place to call home.”
According to their website they believe that people shouldn’t have to lose bidding wars on homes to speculators or move away from their job or school to afford housing.
The Liberal government said that if they are elected they will review the tax treatment of large corporations that own residential properties and inplant policies to curb excessive profits in local areas. “Homes should be for people to live in, not financial assets for investment funds to speculate on,” according to the Liberal government’s website.
