Category: housing affordability

New South Wales Labor to Address Affordability Crisis With $30 Million Build-to-Rent Scheme

New South Wales (NSW) Labor has promised to deliver a $30 million (US$21 million) build-to-rent pilot scheme to increase the supply of rental homes to tackle the growing affordability crisis ahead of the next state election. “Teachers, doctors, and tradies are forced to live in cars in the regions because they can’t find rentals,” NSW…


BC Premier David Eby to Lay out Plans to Tackle Housing Affordability Crisis

British Columbia Premier David Eby is expected to announce his government’s plans to take on the housing affordability crisis today. It’s one of the issues Eby said he planned to tackle just moments after he was sworn in on Friday. Eby, who was housing minister before running for premier, released a housing plan during his…


Sales of Previously Owned Homes Drop for Ninth Month Straight as Mortgage Increases and Inventory Falls

Existing-home sales declined for the ninth straight month in October, falling 5.9 percent from September, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), revealing the demand-dampening effects of higher interest rates amid decades-high inflation. Existing-home sales for October registered a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, a fall of 28.4 percent from 6.19 million in 2021….


Homebuilder Sentiment Falls to Low Levels as Buyer Traffic Evaporates

Homebuilder sentiment in newly built single-family homes dropped in November as prospective buyers shied away from making a purchase due to high costs, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which measures homebuilder sentiment, declined five points, to 33, and registered the 11th consecutive monthly decline,…


Homebuilders Worried About Steeper Downturn in the Housing Market

As the housing market cools down, homebuilders are concerned that the downturn might be too steep for them to handle. The COVID-19 economy was a good time for homebuilders as low interest rates and higher demand saw home prices spike by more than 40 percent in two years. But now that mortgage rates are elevated,…


Inflationary Pressures Leading to ‘Weak Demand,’ Expensive Housing, and Food Insecurities: Fed’s Beige Book

U.S. economic activity was mostly flat, while some regions showed a decline with low spending following interest-rate hikes, said a recent report from the Federal Reserve, indicating an overall pessimistic outlook underlined by weekend demand. “Four districts noted flat activity and two cited declines, with slowing or weak demand attributed to higher interest rates, inflation,…


Goldman Sachs Warns About US Housing Market Downturn

Investment firm Goldman Sachs has warned investors that a downturn in the American housing market is likely in the coming months. “We expect home price growth to stall completely, averaging 0 percent in 2023,” Goldman strategists said in a note to clients, according to Fox Business. “While outright declines in national home prices are possible…


Canada Will Have More Seniors Than Children Within 10 Years, Feds Say

Canada’s senior population is set to outpace its number of children by 2030 due to the country’s increasing average age combined with its low fertility rate, says a federal government report. In the 2020 “Actuarial Report On The Old Age Security Program” Canada’s chief actuary, Assia Billig, projected that the country’s population made up of…


Ottawa Seeking to Include Exemptions in Bill Banning Foreign Investment in Canadian Residential Property

Ottawa is seeking to add exemptions to a bill that temporarily bans foreigners from purchasing residential property in the country, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Bill C-19, an omnibus budget bill that includes enacting the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, received royal assent on June 23. The…


Climate Change Rewrites to Building Code Will Come at a Cost, Federal Agency Says

Rewriting the “National Building Code” to include climate change stipulations will come at a cost, the National Research Council (NRC) says. The NRC, Canada’s primary national agency dedicated to science and technology research and development, wrote in an Aug. 11 notice that it will be hiring consultants to investigate additional costs that climate-change rewrites to…