While Canada’s hot housing market cooled slightly over the spring and summer, September saw the first sales activity increase in months.
Scotiabank housing economist Farah Omran says while things seem to have stabilized, it’s cooling off at a “record-breaking level.” Single-family homes remain in short supply while the steady demand for housing, fuelled in part by an improved jobs market and immigration, mean sellers will continue to have the upper hand, she added.
“It's stabilizing at a level that will keep a lot of wannabe buyers on the sidelines,” she said during the Perspectives podcast.
In the second episode of Perspectives – which widens the lens of the Pandenomics podcast beyond the pandemic’s impacts to include bigger-picture issues and topics – Omran and John Webster, Scotiabank’s Head of Real Estate Secured Lending, discuss the housing market landscape, including the recent uptrend in condo prices and the broader call for improving housing affordability.
One measure that could help level the playing field for buyers – and which the Liberal Party pledged in their election platform to implement – is to end blind bidding, which prevents would-be buyers from knowing what other prospective buyers are offering to pay.
Webster says there needs to be a more transparent process, particularly with affordability being a major issue in almost all major markets.
“Sunlight’s a good disinfectant, and we need to see some reforms on that side to make it easier for consumers,” he said.
