9 November 2018

In case of the GTA low-rise housing market, CMHC predicts a downturn, caused by the lack of lands. Meanwhile, such suburbs as Peel, Durham and York will see higher single-family detached sales and listings. As a result, the price growth will be more restrained.

“There’s a lack of serviceable land in the region for low-rise homes and townhouses,” – said Senagama. “Most of units under construction (almost 55,000 of 71,000) are high-rise. It means there’s only a certain number of resources, including machinery and skilled labour. It will definitely affect the delivery, and the logistics won’t allow it”.

“When we talk about new construction, we expect to see more condos, and it could be the result of pressure from new government policy and higher home prices, switching the demand towards high-rise construction, because low-rise is not affordable for first-time buyers anymore. When the average price exceeds $1 million, it’s not so easy to enter the market”.

CMHC says this year Vancouver showed lower home prices in all market segments, and this tendency will go on.

“During the next two years, the resale market will show lower sales, higher inventories, and lower home prices compared with the recent highs,” – noted Eric Bond from CMHC. “In case of the resale market, we predict a decrease in housing start over the next two years, and the largest drop is expected in the sector of multi-family homes, especially in a high-rise segment.”