Windsor’s real estate market booms

by Maureen Mariampillai

The permit value of residential homes in Windsor has doubled in the last year.

According to Statistics Canada there has been a 52.9 per cent increase in value of building permits in Windsor from November 2011 to November 2012.

Windsor’s chief building official, Lee Anne Doyle said the value for construction for dwelling units doubling shows people are feeling confident enough in their jobs and the economy to invest their money in new homes and renovations.

In 2011, 256 dwelling unit permits were issued by the building department which grew to 266 in 2012. The numbers do not reflect renovations. According to Doyle, it was in the permit value of single family dwelling units where she saw the greatest increase.

“In Windsor we’ve rebounded. It’s a slow process but we are rebounding,” said Doyle. “And that’s just for residential because that’s a good indicator of the confidence people have in their local economy. So that’s different for the province because the province takes everything into consideration.”

Matt Marchand, president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the numbers are not surprising because various programs such as the Windsor-Essex Active Retirement Community Initiative have been working towards revitalizing the market.

“We’ve been advocating and telling our story across Ontario about the benefits of living in the Windsor Essex area,” said Marchand. “And our latest information show that we have brought in $220 million dollars in real estate purchases since 2010 and that includes 885 new residents.”

University of Windsor economics professor Vladimir Bajic, who specializes in housing, said this could be for any number of reasons. But when existing homes are not selling, the demand for building permits will decrease.

Although Windsor is seeing an increase, according to the national statistics there has been a 17. 9 per cent decrease in municipality issued building permits worth $6.2 billion in November 2012.

Ontario posts the largest decline in the country due to lower construction intentions for institutional buildings, residential dwellings and industrial buildings.

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