What to do about housing price inflation?

Housing demand was already strong before the pandemic. But it has undeniably accelerated due to the three main factors underlying today’s housing demand: demographics, immigration, and low interest rates.

Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen, pictured at a June 2021 affordable housing announcement in Ottawa. We can’t tax our way out of a housing supply shortage, nor should we pump the brakes on immigration driving population gains that help grow our economy. The only answer is to dramatically increase housing supply across the entire housing spectrum at a rate that meets demand, writes Michael Bourque of the Canadian Real Estate Association.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY MICHAEL BOURQUE

January 26, 2022

Over the past two years amid COVID-19, real estate markets across Canada have seen record sales and prices. Some markets had price increases as high as 40 per cent, with an average year-over-year price increase in 2021 of 21 per cent. In Toronto, the benchmark price of a three bedroom, two bathroom...

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