Overwhelming majority of Ontarians feel they will never afford a home: poll

Canada’s housing market continues to be a constant source of consternation among many as a recent poll finds that an overwhelming majority of respondents worry they won’t be able to afford a home of their own.

A poll conducted by Counsel Public Affairs of 2,273 eligible Ontario voters from January 21-23 concluded that 83 per cent of respondents are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the cost of housing in their community.

“These high levels of concern are consistent across the province, reflecting the rapid housing cost increases experienced across Ontario during the pandemic,” Counsel Public Affairs writes. “A staggering 82 per cent of renters in Ontario believe they will never be able to afford a home.”

Two-thirds of respondents believe that the provincial government should take action to limit increasing housing prices, with a significant majority (88 per cent) showing support for a foreign-owned vacancy tax. Additionally, 75 per cent of those polled believe the government should require developers to build low-income housing whenever they build a new development.

“This data reveals that concern over housing affordability, and support for government intervention, is relatively consistent across geographical and political boundaries,” writes David Murray, Senior Consultant with Counsel Public Affairs.

“With only 29 per cent of Ontario voters indicating that they believe the Ford government has done a good job of addressing the issue, all parties can gain by promising action to mitigate the growing housing crisis.”

A recent survey found that most Ontarians feel like they won’t ever be able to afford a house.

A Statistics Canada report published in mid-January revealed that people were moving to the suburbs in Toronto and Montreal in unprecedented numbers.

“Urban sprawl continues, with Toronto and Montreal both experiencing record-high population losses to surrounding areas,” the report said.

New data published this week by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed average house prices have increased by 21 per cent in the past year to $748,450 — the highest on record.

The CREA notes that Ontario and British Columbia are the most significant factors in the increase, with some markets these provinces responsible for 30 per cent gains within the past year.

The CREA says that the number of homes put up for sale fell 11 per cent.

“As expected, January was pretty quiet on the new listings side of things, with this year’s first big new supply numbers unlikely to emerge until the weather starts to warm up a bit,” CREA chair Cliff Stevenson said in a statement.

“The question is, will that supply be overwhelmed by demand as it was last spring, or will we start to see the re-emergence of some of the many would-be sellers who have been hunkered down for the last two years?”