The politics of housing affordability with Michael Bourque from the Canadian Real Estate Association

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the national average home price in September 2021 was $686,650 – an increase of 27% from before the pandemic. In Greater Toronto – the average home price is almost $1.1 million. In Greater Vancouver, it’s close to $1.2 million.  To say that housing has become unaffordable in most parts of Canada is an understatement.

Two weeks ago, RBC released its latest housing affordability measure. It jumped 2.7% in the last quarter – the biggest quarterly increase in more than three decades.

During the past election, housing affordability was a top issue for millions of Canadians – especially those under 40 who aspire to own a home but feel that dream is becoming harder and harder to achieve.

On this episode of inFocus, I’m joined by Michael Bourque, the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Real Estate Association. CREA represents more than 135,000 real estate brokers, agents, and salespeople working through 78 real estate Boards and Associations across Canada.

Michael and I spoke about housing affordability, the politics of the issue, and what is needed from government policy to make the dream of homeownership a reality for more Canadians.