The Future of the Housing Crisis

Throughout the past several years, Canada has been in a crisis when it comes to being able to provide homes for the population. Over these years, the government has been trying to figure out a plan, but the problem is not over yet. Seventy two year-old real estate businessman, Frank Binder said construction costs and quality of housing is contributing to the crisis. 

“There are not enough houses to go around. Most builders try to build affordable housing, but it gets difficult because the cost of construction is getting higher. Same with interest rates, making the costs even higher,” said Binder.  

He says there is still some opportunity in Canada for some reasonably priced housing. 

“The problem in particular is based in larger cities. The Windsor market is particularly affordable, but bigger cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are way past affordability. What’s important is having good supply. The market in Windsor is rather stable otherwise,” said Binder. 

The immigration influx over the years have also added weight to this crisis, which has left many people, including some of the recent immigrants, without a home. The federal government has started to cut back on immigration as a possible solution to the ongoing crisis. 

“If we can build more, that would help. The difficulty is that the costs are still so high and the government is trying to help… We are getting to the point where if prices get lowered, we could get things to start coming along nicely,” said Binder. “Can I see something changing in two years? No, I see us struggling still. With the cutback on international students and immigrants, it’ll unfortunately help us reveal a solution to free up more homes for housing. The government never had a national plan to prepare housing for so many immigrants and students.” 

While the Canadian housing crisis will remain to be a concern, Binder says changes may be seen as soon as December of this year, with another cut in interest rates 

“I think the crisis we are into here is deep. In my opinion, this will take a number of years to get through… I expect another half-point cut in December and upticks in 2025 that can start getting us back on track,” said Binder. 

Even if the housing crisis can slowly start restoring in the coming future, some people still fear they may not be able to buy a house in the future. 

“The Windsor housing market is bad in my opinion; I’ll never be able to buy a house. Same with rent, it’s through the roof. My mom is struggling to get things done at this point,” said Colin Forte, a 17 year-old student at North Star high school. “Everything costs a lot and I feel that I will never be able to pay for a house if things don’t change.”