Park vista whitby prices . House prices in Canada are rising by 30% a year. It is difficult for young people to realize their dream of buying a home. As the national average house price rose 31.6% in March compared with the same period last year, many young people’s dream of owning a house is becoming more and more disillusioned. Some critics are of the view that the housing supply and the Government’s existing policies are inadequate to solve the growing problem.
When Andres Penaloza and his wife emigrated to Canada from Venezuela more than two years ago, they dreamed of a better life, including owning a house, according to Global News.
The couple hoped to find a suitable house in Vancouver and start their own small family, but after more than two years of searching, they gave up.
“what we are seeing is a bidding war and a lot of houses are sold for too much more than the asking price, which is really frustrating,” said Penalosa, a research assistant at UBC University. Many people under the age of 35, like Mr. and Mrs. Penalosa, are beginning to feel that their dream of owning a house is becoming more and more out of reach.
Bethany King, a real estate agent at Century 21 Millennium, points out that first-time home buyers of millennials face stiff competition. Buyers who can buy a house for 200000 or 300000 yuan more than the asking price are either getting great help from their parents or baby boomers who are “trading the big for the small”. First-time buyers who lack the help of “parents’ banks” face competitors, often baby boomers who have made a lot of money from selling their existing homes.
Mandike Bank recently published a report pointing to the need to abandon the view that house prices will only rise further and to curb speculation and fear of missing out. Economists at other banks have also called on the government to do more to crack down on runaway house prices, with central bank governor Tiff Macklem noting that there are “worrying” signs in the property market.
More stringent mortgage stress tests will begin on June 1, and a national vacant housing tax was announced in the federal budget released on April 19, but critics say these measures are not enough to solve the growing problem. The latest budgets of Ontario and British Columbia do not give priority to housing market policy.
Real estate agents, economists and affordable housing advocates have all pointed out that the insufficient supply of housing is the main factor driving the bidding war, which will be exacerbated by the influx of new immigrants after the epidemic. Another major factor is the government’s reluctance to formulate policies to substantially reduce house prices.
“on the one hand, we want to buy affordable housing; on the other hand, we want it to be a good return on investment, but the two things are not compatible for a long time,” said Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze, an advocacy group for young people. ‘people often focus too much on whether there is a bubble in the housing market, and should actually focus on the “affordability crisis,” which has a particularly significant impact on those who have not yet entered the market, he said.
