A new housing report from Halton raises fresh questions about affordability.
The 2023 state of housing report suggests that 45.2 per cent of new housing unit sales, all of which were apartments, were deemed to be affordable based on the region’s housing model — priced at or below $531,000. This threshold is defined by what a household earning $126,000 can afford.
After conducting a quick research on available properties, Oakville regional councillor Nav Nanda stated, “There’s pretty much nothing affordable in Oakville right now.”
“When we're telling people that we're going to have affordable housing. It just shows here that $500,000 is only going to get you a condo — you can't get a home,” Nanda said at the most recent regional council meeting.
“At this point a single detached home is impossible if you're thinking that the minimum you need to be making is $300,000,” she added.
Halton Region aims to ensure that at least 30 per cent of new housing units every year are affordable.
In criticizing the report, Burlington Mayor Meed Ward said that it “kind of masks the dire state of affordability.”
“I believe there is a mismatch between the average affordability and the type of unit that is offered at that price,” Meed Ward said, while suggesting that a more detailed analysis — breaking down housing by bedroom type and price — would provide a clearer picture of how well the market is meeting affordability needs.
Regional staff said that they will take the request back and provide council with the information.
Here are some other highlights from the annual state of housing report:
- In 2023, Halton saw a significant shift towards higher-density housing, with 74.6 per cent of new housing completions being townhouses or multi-storey buildings.
- Last year also marked a substantial increase in housing activity: there were 3,743 new housing completions, up from 2,115 in 2022; 4,466 new housing starts, compared to 3,295 in the previous year; and 6,445 housing units under construction, which was a slight decrease from 6,692 in 2022.
- The MPAC sales data revealed the average prices of new and resale homes in 2023 to be $840,500 and $1,241,100, respectively. Additionally, there were 16,299 private townhouse and apartment rental units in Halton, with an average rent of $1,788, up from $1,695 in 2022.
- In 2023, Oakville had the highest average rent at $1,925, followed by Burlington and Milton at $1,761 and $1,531, respectively. Halton Hills had the lowest at $1,155, although the data for Halton Hills was limited due to data suppression in the CMHC’s rental market survey.
- The vacancy rate increased slightly to 1.6 per cent from 1.2 per cent in 2022, still below the three per cent considered healthy for the rental market.
- Since 2014, the region has exceeded its target of creating 900 new government-funded housing opportunities, achieving a total of 1,181 new assisted housing opportunities as part of its Comprehensive Housing Strategy (2014 to 2024).
