Key takeaways:
- A federal government committee is studying inflation and housing costs in tandem.
- The cost of the average house in Canada surpassed $713,500 in December 2021, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Housing costs increase in Canada:
As Canadian housing costs persist their dizzying rise to record highs, the federal conservatives describe the situation as a “housing inflation crisis.” Source – cbc.ca
That report dovetails neatly with the continuing debate regarding Canada’s inflation rate, now at a 30-year high of 4.8 percent. But some experts caution that pairing housing prices with inflation could cover the real reasons for rushing home costs.
“These problems have predated our conversations regarding inflation or even worries about inflation,” stated Murtaza Haider, a teacher in real estate management at Ryerson University. Source – cbc.ca
“To take as such, we would make the blunder of thinking that if we crack the inflation issue, we will solve the housing crisis, and that would be a big error.” Source – cbc.ca
The House of Commons discusses the consequences of inflation on the Canadian economy through a particular parliamentary committee established in January. The first meeting of that committee saw a detailed conversation of housing costs, but some who took part state the committee imperils conflating two distinct issues somehow.
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“I don’t think we can reach this just an inflation issue,” stated Sahar Raza, a National Right to Housing Network manager. Source – cbc.ca
Raza and Haider arose in January as expert observers before the parliamentary committee on inflation.
Following his appearance, Haider stated talks regarding housing costs have “some but not much bearing to the ongoing discourse on inflation.” Source – cbc.ca
Conservatives accuse government spending
Conservatives, meanwhile, suggest that housing costs in Canada rushed by 33 percent from March 2020 to November 2021 — something the party accuses of what it calls the federal government’s careless spending during the pandemic.
