For some time , the Bank of Canada, international organizations and financial analysts have expressed concern at Canada’s rising house prices and related household debt levels. Some have even suggested risks similar to that of the housing bust that devastated...
Housing Affordability
Supply and Demand in Alberta’s Housing Market
It is well known that the Alberta economy is largely driven by the oil and gas sector. One unfortunate consequence of this is that Alberta is subject to the boom and bust cycle that is pervasive in all resource-‐based economies. In boom periods, the demand for...
Recent Mortgage Rule Changes Not Well Thought Out
Starting in 2008, the federal government has made changes to the manner in which mortgages can be financed through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). For instance, the maximum amortization period has been reduced from 40 years to 25 years; the maximum...
The 12th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has released the 12th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, which is sponsored in Canada by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. As of the 3rd quarter of 2015, Vancouver’s price-to-income ratio (house...
Featured News
Supply Chain Strains Could Cause Shortages and Hoarding
Supply chain problems, both international and domestic, could create shortages and hoarding, and make recent inflationary pressures even worse. Although problems with our ports and railways may beg policy solutions, the short-term response of everyday Canadians should...
New Book: Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis
CALGARY, AB, December 17, 2021 - The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has just released a new book, Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis written by Susan Martinuk. Susan is an accomplished, nationally recognized researcher and writer who has...
Housing Getting Cheaper
As the national economy gains strength it will actually hurts Saskatoon’s real estate market because once jobs pick up in the east, most other jurisdictions offer more affordable housing and will draw people from this market.
Sydney: From World City To “Sick Man” Of Australia
About three decades ago, Sydney embarked upon what was to become one of the world’s strongest “smart growth” programs (called “urban consolidation” in Australia). Aimed at concentrating population closer to the core, urban consolidation sought to restrict and even prohibit new housing on the urban fringe. Sydney developed its own equivalent of the famous Portland urban growth boundary. The result is that every land owner knows whether or not their property can be developed, and the favored understandably take advantage by charging whatever price the highly constrained market will bear.
Don’t Regulate the Suburbs: America Needs a Housing Policy That Works
Senior Fellow Wendell Cox and Ronald Utt examine housing policies under consideration in the United States, focusing on the negative impact of ‘smart growth’.
How Bad Was The Panic Of 2008?
Just how bad is the current economic downturn? It is frequently claimed that the crash of 2008 is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. There is plenty of reason to accept this characterization, though we clearly are not suffering the widespread hardship of the Depression era.
BUTLER: Dumping ‘Smart Growth’ Is Wise
If we are going to get out of the housing mess, it doesn´t just mean fixing the mortgage market or – as some argue – bailing out homeowners. It also means scaling back the rules in many jurisdictions that continue to artificially push up new house prices and fan the pressure for huge mortgages.
The Case For Affordable Housing In Regina
The Canadian Centre for Policy alternatives realizes some home truths about affordable housing: “[Inclusionary zoning] amounts to a narrowly focused tax that aims to serve a broad social function. The real estate industry has become a target because people view the lack of affordable housing as a real estate problem. However, experience in other jurisdictions suggests it is more of an income distribution and regulatory problem…. While attention is focused on distribution of the housing pie, the fundamental supply problems remain unsolved. A better approach is to enlarge the pie to be shared.”
Metro Housing Costs Among The Highest In The World: Global City Survey
Protecting green spaces, either to conserve farm land or create parks, “is indeed a lofty and sensible goal,” Angel writes in the preface, but “the protection of open space is not without cost.”
Not So Affordable Anymore
RISING house prices have eroded Winnipeg’s international standing as an affordable place to buy a home, a new study has found.
Housing Affordablilty – The Global Perspective
Putting Canada’s housing affordability in a global perspective.