Housing Crisis Digest #2
Mexico's "radicalism", Justin Trudeau, and Yet More Solutions
Mexico Goes All In on Housing: 1 Million New Homes, Zero-Interest Mortgages
Source: Newsweek, November 11, 2024
"The focus of this program is to provide affordable housing to those in greatest need, especially young Mexicans," Sheinbaum stated, contrasting her approach with previous right-wing administrations that prioritized profit-driven projects over public needs.
[…]
A key component of the initiative is a zero-interest mortgage scheme, offering low-income households a path to homeownership with favorable terms. According to Rodrigo Chávez, Director of CONAVI, qualified beneficiaries will have access to 30-year, interest-free mortgages, specifically designed to ease the financial burden for Mexico's underserved citizens.
[…]
Mexico's Minister of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development, Edna Vega, noted that the program is expected to drive significant job growth, with an estimated 6.1 million direct and 9.2 million indirect jobs generated through construction and infrastructure efforts.
2. Why Canada’s changing its immigration system
Source: YouTube, November 17, 2024, Justin Trudeau
3. A new breed of property barons could hold the key to solving Canada's housing crisis
Source: Financial Post, November 21, 2024
“I think there’s a really big opportunity here to address the housing shortage,” Mike Moffatt, a housing policy expert at the Ottawa-based Smart Prosperity Institute think tank, said. “We are kind of running out of places to build, and as land grows more scarce, we need to look at some of these people that you wouldn’t normally think of as being housing developers and see them as an important piece in solving the puzzle.”
4. Condo owners' pain could be condo buyers' gain, as market meltdown continues
Source: Financial Post, November 1, 2024
Selected Quote:
A record number of condo listings (up 38 per cent year-over-year)
“Two years of record condo completions ahead, through 2026,” according to housing analyst and Edge Analytics president Ben Rabidoux
Plummeting third-quarter condo sales (especially for new condos, which are at their lowest since 1995 according to Urbanation)
A 46.6 per cent surge in condos listed for rent in Q3, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB)
Unsold new condo inventory that’s 56 per cent above the latest 10-year average, per Urbanation
Surging days on market (up 43 per cent year-over-year)
Diving rents as those who can’t sell try to generate cash flow
“Deeply cash flow negative” rents for investors at 80 per cent loan-to-value — and that’s despite falling mortgage rates, says Rabidoux
More aggressive price discounting from developers who held back units (“Many were hoping they could sell them at inflated prices once the condo corporation was registered,” says mortgage broker Ross Taylor of Concierge Mortgage Group.)
Supply from the small percentage of panicked sellers who can no longer qualify for a mortgage on the condo they overpaid on a few years ago, often because it won’t appraise for the purchase price
5. What you need to know about Trudeau's new 'plan to solve the housing crisis'
Source: CTV News, April 12, 2024
"We can't forget that we have a responsibility to help some of the most vulnerable in this country. We're putting additional investments on the table to build out affordable housing, because the cause of homelessness is not a person's family history. It's not just mental health or addictions. It's a lack of adequate affordable housing," Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Friday.