Federal parties are pressured to adjust B-20 before the election

As October federal election is coming, Canadian real estate boards are demanding important changes to B-20.

“With today’s regulations, the stress test in the GTA increases the average monthly mortgage payments by $700 – it’s quite a large sum which could be otherwise spent on daycare or a car payment. And when it adds up to the debt burden of a family trying to purchase home, it’s already too much,” - noted Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Michael Collins. “In our opinion, the stress test does have certain advantages, but it should be reduced to a more reasonable level”.

Moreover, boards from Calgary, Vancouver and Quebec, which represent about 90,000 realtors, are demanding to bring back a 30-year amortization, to replace the $750 First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit with a $2,500 non-refundable tax credit for those who purchase their first homes, and to change the stress test in accordance with the economic issues and interest rates.

Smaller condos and larger houses – two main extremes of Canada’s real estate market

In case you think your condo has become smaller, don’t worry, it’s not your imagination playing with you, it is true. Condo sizes have been really decreasing in Canada during the recent years.

Meanwhile, the size of single-detached houses has been only rising.

As a rule, the size of a unit is based on the potential tenant. Smaller families or individuals prefer small units, while growing families choose larger houses. As a result, the new housing plans need to reflect the trends and future forecasts. For instance, in case the family sizes are expected to shrink, builders will have to account for it in their new projects.

This year, Statistics Canada released a report focusing on unit sizes and their assessed values in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario. It turns out, the average size of a condo living area built in Ontario in 2016-2017 reached 665 square feet, which is 35% smaller than in case of condos built in the 80s and 33% smaller than in 90s.

Most Canadians blame foreign buyers for home prices increase

The recent poll by Equifax shows that almost two out of three Canadians consider foreign housing investment to be the main reason of a sharp home prices increase.

It says 61% of Canadians pointed to foreign finances as the most significant factor pushing the prices higher at Canada’s already hot real estate markets.

The number rose to 69% in case of the respondents thinking about getting a mortgage loan. Meanwhile, 78% believe the federal government has to interfere and help potential buyers, with 70% saying it’s necessary to focus on the first-time buyers.