Keeping it Real
Meet Jacquie McCarnan your host for Keeping it Real, the Vancouver and area residential real estate podcast that aims to demystify all things real estate in our crazy market.
Jacquie has been a licensed Realtor since 2016 and, in that time, has come across just about every scenario you can think of in our residential market. From hoarder homes to those for sale by owners to crazy strata situations and more, Jacquie provides real stories to help you navigate real estate in Vancouver and surrounding areas.
Each episode of Keeping it Real is short and to the point and provides you with great information about the topic discussed. Jacquie is always available to answer more in-depth questions and is happy to feature your own experience in future episodes.
Episodes also contain additional, non-real estate info about local businesses, experiences, and hidden gems around town that will make you sound like a local expert!
If you live in Vancouver or surrounding areas you know that the #1 thing people talk about is real estate (then the weather) if you want to sound knowledgeable and up to date on the real estate part listen weekly to hear topical issues that affect our market. We try to pick the most interesting and current issues to demystify each week and eagerly anticipate your input.
Join us every week for the very newest info on residential real estate in Vancouver and area.
Keeping it Real
Ep 40 _ How Did Canada Find Itself in a Housing Crisis???
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Explore the forgotten chapters of Canada's housing history as we uncover how past policy shifts have shaped today's housing crisis. Imagine a time in the 1960s and 70s when Canada was a beacon of affordable housing, thanks to robust government involvement. Fast forward to the 1980s and 90s, when a pivot towards private market solutions and homeownership began to unravel that fabric, leaving many Canadians struggling to keep up with surging prices and stagnant wages. As we journey through this complex tapestry of historical decisions, you'll gain an understanding of how these changes have impacted homeowners and renters today, particularly in hot markets like Vancouver.
As we commemorate the 40th episode of Keeping it Real, I invite you to reflect on the freedoms we treasure, especially during Remembrance Day. Your participation is key—share topics you're passionate about as we continue to explore new ideas and stories. Don't forget to check out related episodes and resources available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or my website, NorthVanHomeSales.com, where you can find helpful buyer's and seller's guides. Join me, Jacquie McCarnan, in honoring those who've fought for our rights while navigating the often daunting landscape of real estate.
Hey everybody, welcome back to Keeping it Real, the Vancouver and area residential real estate podcast that aims to cut through all the noise so that you have the real facts and are able to discuss appropriately. My name is Jackie McCarnan and I am a North Shore residential realtor, but I work all over the lower mainland. I mean, I don't like going all the way to, you know, langley or Abbotsford, but in a pinch I can definitely help you find somebody to help out there. I'm not going out there myself, though. There are bridges between me and them, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to keep this a little lighthearted today, because the subject matter is not. The subject matter is not. For those of you that regularly listen to the show, you know that I am trying to always bring you information that will help you make informed decisions about the real estate market, and today is no different. But in today's episode I just want to talk a little bit about how we got to where we are now. I really just want to discuss how we got into what inarguably is called a housing crisis here in Canada. You know there's a history behind this and I think a lot of people don't recognize just exactly what happened and how we got to where we are today. So I'm going to tell you. So I want to dive into this subject. Whether you're trying to buy a place or rent one, it's difficult to make sense of the real estate market. It's super tough out there. Home prices are through the roof. Rents are not far behind, In fact. I mean, I think rents are probably worse. If you own a house, your mortgage payment is probably less than rent, and I think a lot of people are wondering just how we got here and is there a way out of the mess that we're in.
Speaker 1:So today I want to look at the roots of Canada's housing crisis and why. For some experts, this crisis isn't just a blip. It's built into our system, and what does that mean? I want to unpack this together. Let's start with some basic content. All right, housing prices in Canada have increased over 350% since the year 2000. Meanwhile, the typical income for Canada has gone up only by 100%. Some of the stats said 130%, but anyway, it doesn't really matter, it's certainly not 350%. So we've got housing prices that are soaring and wages that are not keeping up. This imbalance has made Canada's housing market one of the most expensive among developed nations. And if you feel like you're struggling to get ahead, you're definitely not in the minority, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:When we talk about the housing crisis, most people think it's a problem of affordability, and that is a huge part of it. But there's more to it than just high prices and low inventory. Experts are saying that the root issue is actually the way we think about housing. We in Canada, we think about it as something to invest in rather than a basic need for shelter. Let's talk about how this happened. We have to go back a few decades.
Speaker 1:So in the 60s and 70s, canada had a really strong housing welfare system. The government played a big role in making sure affordable housing was available and there was a focus on social housing, lots of co-ops and rental options that weren't tied to the private market. But these things started to change in the 80s. Housing policies shifted, moving away from public programs and putting more responsibility on individuals and private developers. The thinking was that the private market will take care of it and home ownership is the way to go, and that agenda was pushed really hard. By 1993, the federal government stopped funding new social housing projects altogether. So when you're looking around Vancouver and you're looking at co-ops, you'll see that they are older than 1993 in general. Also, you know, any of the kind of affordable co-ownership places similarly are older than the 90s. So the idea of not funding these social housing projects was that the people would have more independence if they own their homes and the private market would be better at delivering housing efficiency. And that's how Canada ended up with a system where home ownership was pushed as an ideal and the public sector took a step. The public sector being the government took a step back. So now fast forward to today and we're seeing the effects of these policy. These policy shifts in real time.
Speaker 1:Home ownership rates soared during the 90s and 2000s as more people were encouraged to buy property. That's when I bought my first house 1996. No, 1998? 96. Yeah, 1996. I bought my first place in Whistler because there was so much pressure to buy. We had the Whistler Valley Housing Association. That was for people who live and work in Whistler and you were in a draw and if you won the draw you could purchase a home. But we did not win in that draw, but we had enough of a down payment and at the time that was $30,000 that we were able to buy our first townhome, but it was really drilled into me to buy a house.
Speaker 1:So back then in the 90s and 2000s, mortgages were made widely available and even if people had to stretch financially to get them, you could still get it. It was easier to get a mortgage than a credit card in the 2000s the 90s and the 2000s, but that has a downside to it as well. So over one third of Canadians who own homes have mortgages and many are finding it harder and harder to keep up with payments as the cost of living rises. But wages are not rising, and it's not just about homeowners. Renters are obviously feeling it too. Rents have gone up faster than inflation, especially in major cities like Vancouver, and evictions have also been on the rise, and that is why we see so many programs put into place by certainly by our provincial government to protect renters, and I know there's a lot of controversy about how much renters are being protected. But if you've been a homeowner and you've been a renter and I've been both I can tell you that there is a feeling that you have when you're a renter that feels unstable and it affects most of your life and most of your decisions, your financial decisions, and you're nervous. You're nervous that your whole life can be turned upside down on the whim of somebody else. So having those checks and balances in place for renters, I mean, I agree with that, and if you're a homeowner who rents a home, being on top of things and understanding the rules, you're still going to make money from your home. You're still going to make money from your home.
Speaker 1:One interesting thing, though, is many of the homes that we see on the market aren't even being used as homes. So one in five properties in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario are investment properties, meaning they've been bought by people who don't plan to live in them and they're used only to make money. That's one in five, that's a fifth. And short-term rentals like Airbnb have also taken a lot of units out of the long-term housing market, which makes things even tighter. So that brings us to the homeless problem, which has been growing. Certain groups are especially impacted, including Indigenous people, black Canadians, people with disabilities, gender minorities.
Speaker 1:A lack of affordability, stable housing is pushing people into precarious situations, and there's a ripple effect to that. People are forced to stay with family longer, putting off having kids, or rely on family money to get a down payment. This situation is widening the wealth gap between those who can afford homes and those who can't. So what's's being done? In 2017, canada introduced the National Housing Strategy For the first time. It put focus back on renting, making rent assistance available and setting a goal to reduce homelessness. In 2019, the government went a step further by making access to adequate housing a human right, which was a pretty big deal.
Speaker 1:We don't see that all over the free world or the I don't know first world, which was a pretty big deal. We don't see that all over the free world or the I don't know first world. What are we saying now? I don't remember. My political science degree did not kick in.
Speaker 1:Most recently, in 2024, the government laid out a plan to build nearly 4 million homes by 2031, along with new protections for renters. So essentially, if you pay attention to this stuff, what you see is that the federal government is now working with the provinces and municipalities to start building social housing again, like they did in the 80s, and because it is very it's a very clear path from them stopping that to where we got to today, with properties becoming investment properties. However, things are a bit tricky. So, even with these new policies, most of the housing solutions will still rely heavily on private developers. Basically, the government is hoping the private market will build enough homes to meet demand, which isn't guaranteed to help the people most in need. For example, if we take the apartment construction loan program one of the government's biggest efforts to fund new rental housing a lot of the funding goes to private developers, who often end up building housing that's not exactly affordable for the average person. So while there are more rentals, there aren't always at the price point to help low and middle income families. And even things that are considered affordable, most programs require only 20% of the units to be 20% under market rate, and even market rate is quite high. So even 20% under market rate is still very high and unaffordable for many, many people. So where does this all leave us?
Speaker 1:Many housing experts are saying it's time to look beyond just building more homes and start changing how we think about housing entirely. They argue that the need to build up non-market side of housing things like co-ops and community housing and affordable rentals that aren't driven by profit that should be a priority. If housing wasn't just seen as an investment but as a basic right, we might start to see more stability and affordability for everybody. It's also about breaking the mindset that renting is just a step on the way to owning. If we could make renting secure, affordable and accessible, it would mean that home ownership isn't the only pathway to stability. Imagine if everyone had the option to either rent or own and felt secure either way. And, like I said, currently I've been both renter and homeowner, and when you're a renter it's it's scary. You really do feel like the rug could be pulled out from under you at any point.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that's kind of my assessment, based on the research that I'd done, of how we got into Canada's housing crisis. It's a complex issue and understanding how we got here is a big part of figuring out how we can move forward. Affordable, stable housing impacts us all, from the economy to mental health, to the communities we live in. If we push for change and rethink our approach, maybe we can make housing a fair playing field again. I mean field again. I mean I hope so. Right, it's such a complicated issue. Building costs are really high, which makes rental costs high, which makes housing prices high, which makes like it's all such a slippery slope. And the government I do believe that the federal and provincial and municipal governments are working together to try to create a plan that is going to help us find more affordability in the housing in Canada. But I mean, if you don't need to live in a big city, you could get a great, big house somewhere in the country, but I don't know. I want to stay in the lower mainland. So I'm always committed to figuring out how we're going to ease the pressure on low and middle income earners so that they, too, can feel secure in their housing. Whether that's renting or buying, I don't care, because I just want people to feel safe.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. This is episode 40 of Keeping it Real. I'm committed to continuing Keeping it Real to the end of the year, and we'll see what happens then. If there's a subject that you are interested in learning more about, I'm always happy to dig into that for you. I'm always looking for new topics and obviously there are 39 other episodes that you can listen to, and sometimes they're related to the one that we're talking about.
Speaker 1:I also just want to do a shout out to say Remembrance Day is on Monday, and I believe that, particularly after the week that we've had here in North America, I think we need to really think hard about the fact that people fought for the rights and freedoms that we have here in Canada and in the US, and I think we need to hold on to those rights and freedoms with all our might and, you know, just be good humans. You can get Keeping it Real on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and you can also grab it at NorthVanHomeSalescom slash podcasts. Also on my website, north Van Home Sales, you can access buyer's guides and seller's guides, tons of resources, and you can also get in touch with me through myriad of ways. So I would love to hear from you. Certainly, if you want some help understanding the market or what's going on right now, I am right here for you, so just give me a call, text, email, whatever.
