1- The market sets the prices in a free market economy. Any house that it is listed at a "decent" price will receive multiple offers and usually sells WAY above asking price.
2- Not true. Condos, townhomes, stacked townhomes, back to backs are the bulk of what Builders are building because that is the so-called affordable option.
3- And yet it's true, hence the foreign buyer prohibition.
4- Massive amounts of land that is inhospitable, unfarmable, and too far away from infrastructure and jobs. Huge swaths of southern Ontario were designated greenbelt decades ago, and cannot be touched, even though much of it is not being farmed and is literally just sitting there (as land is wont to do
). When the current government tried to redesignate some (and reallocate other land as an offset), there was such a hue and cry that Dougie had to back down.
5 - Oh heck no! The less government touches something, the better. There is no bad situation that the government, most any government, can't make worse. Huge news story here a decade ago, a Toronto school needed a new pencil sharpener installed. They had the sharpener, it literally just needed to be attached to the cabinet with two screws. The teacher brought in his own screwdriver, but was prevented by the union represented maintenance worker from completing the job. Multiple days later, the job was done, and tax-payers were billed $143. Google it.
1 - Kids today have no other choice but to get places together. Two/three guys chip in, and the one who doesn't have a girlfriend or can contribute the least amount of money gets the couch.
2 - Aye, there's the rub. If you're paying ridiculous rent every month, you're not able to save for a down payment in an escalating market. By the time you've saved the required 10%, if you even can, prices have gone up another hundred or so thousand.
3 - Wrong. I won't get into why ... but you're just wrong about Canada's situation.
4 - I can't agree with this either. When even a back to back townhouse costs almost $600,000 in little old Brantford, young people throw their hands up in despair. Mike and I have experienced a significant temporary downturn in our financial situation, and if we sell the house, it will be a couple of years before we can afford to buy again ... at which point, I don't think we will bother. I'd rather give some money to my kids than put $200-$300K down on a townhouse up here. Home ownership is a reality that is slipping away for this generation.
I'm sure this conversation is boring for the rest of Sagetland, so I'll let it go after this.
Canada is not the US. We have a smaller population than the US (approx 1/9th); far less habitable land, despite what a map would lead you to believe; and a massive immigration and refugee influx, disproportionate to our population. New immigrants have been my bread and butter for decades. Without them, I'd be working at a Tim Horton's, so please don't think I'm complaining.
