A new survey published by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has determined that while most residents in the province desire to become homeowners, they believe that too-high costs coupled with expensive municipal development charges are making that goal difficult to obtain.
The survey, conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of OREA, found 71% of respondents wanted to own a home. But 80% of the non-homeowners surveyed thought it became more difficult to buy a home over the past year, with 55% expecting housing prices to increase somewhat this year. As a result of this pessimism, nearly half of these aspiring homeowners said they gave up believing they will ever own a home (25%) or do not believe in the possibility (24%).
The survey’s respondents also rejected the notion of “growth pays for growth,” particularly when it comes to the high costs associated with funding new housing infrastructure via development charges – 75% strongly supported reducing municipal development charges, and 72% said they would support the Government of Ontario setting limits. Ontarians further believe the responsibility of paying for infrastructure should lie primarily with either the provincial government (41%) or the municipality (25%), rather than being passed down to new homebuyers.
“Homeownership is a milestone that many Ontarians aspire towards,” said OREA President Rick Kedzior. “Unfortunately, prohibitive costs like development charges are being tacked onto the price tag and pushing affordability further out of reach. That’s why, since 2019, OREA has been lobbying the provincial government to look at ways to reduce development charges and make homeownership more affordable.”