A larger inventory of low-cost homes is increasingly important in red-hot Ontario
A new multi-million-dollar federal funding tranche will help add more affordable housing supply in Owen Sound, ON.
Earlier this week, the governments of Canada and Ontario announced that as part of the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative and the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative, over $9.6 million will be invested into the construction of dozens of affordable housing units in Owen Sound.
Slated to begin in Spring 2020, the third phase of the Odawa Heights development will be comprised of 54 new homes, 43 of which will be allotted to affordable housing.
Odawa Heights is a townhouse and apartment project meant to provide accessible housing solutions to mid-income and struggling Owen Sound families. Residents have already moved into 36 units in 2018 and 2019 after the completion of the first two phases.
Improving the inventory of low-cost homes in Ontario is expected to provide a measure of relief to the province’s housing market, which will likely see aggravated price growth this year due to the outsized influence of the Greater Toronto Area.
“Strong population growth in the GTA coupled with declining negotiated mortgage rates resulted in sales accounting for a greater share of listings in November and throughout the second half of 2019,” TREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer said.
By the end of last year, the sales-to-new-listings ration in the region stood at an alarming 81%.
“Increased competition between buyers has resulted in an acceleration in price growth. Expect the rate of price growth to increase further if we see no relief on the listings supply front.”
