Vancouver not keeping up with affordable housing demand, says CMHC

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Vancouver and Toronto are not moving fast enough to supply affordable housing. That’s the key finding in a new report from a federal agency responsible for ensuring housing is accessible.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation also found low mortgage rates, paired with strong population and economic growth, are driving up house prices.

Research dating back to 2010 — the year Vancouver hosted the Olympics- – shows the cost of an average home in Vancouver jumped 48 per cent over six years. The average cost rose 40 per cent in Toronto.

About 75 per cent of the growth here is thanks to low mortgage rates, buyers having more disposal income, and more people choosing to live in the Lower Mainland.

The CMHC’s Aled ab Iorweth says it’s not clear why Vancouver and Toronto are not meeting demands as fast as other urban areas. “Supply responses have been stronger in Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton. There are significant data gaps in this area.”

“There are basically a multitude of factors including stuff that can not be affected like the geographic availability. It gets to be very difficult to disentangle everything that’s going on. We will have to do more analysis to really dig down and understand exactly what is happening,” he adds.

He admits examining the extent of foreign investment is a challenge because non-Canadians own less than five per cent of Vancouver homes, but 52 per cent of buyers believe prices are influenced by foreign investors.

The 225-page report found prices for single-detached homes are consistently higher than prices for condos. But investment demand for apartments is rising, and that’s driving up prices for rental homes.

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