Poll: Toronto and Vancouver Aren't the Only Unreasonable Housing Markets

February 28th, 2016  |  Home

A strong housing sector is supposed to be good for the economy, but when housing is strong, prices go up, and if prices get too high, that’s not good for anyone.

Unfortunately, a survey by the Angus Reid Institute states 56 per cent of Canadians feel that prices on houses are unreasonably high. The survey is interesting because it shows that house prices are a major concern in smaller markets than Vancouver and Toronto despite the attention normally being on Canada’s two biggest markets.

Metro News reports that at least 45 per cent of respondents in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, and Halifax believe that home prices are “high” or “unreasonably high” and that percentage is even higher in Southern British Columbia and Ontario.

Government at all levels have expressed concern for the possibility of an unsustainable housing market, but many feel that it hasn’t been enough. 66 per cent of survey respondents agreed with the statement that the government should be doing more to intervene in the housing market.

Home buying has been encouraged partly by low interest rates. If the bank of Canada raised rates it may slow down the housing market, but in today’s current debt-heavy society, it may also harm the economy. Because of this the government is instead trying other ways to control the market such as tightening mortgage rules.