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Housing Affordability

by | Jun 30, 2023 | News

Are Canadian Governments a Vampire in Housing Affordability?

A new study of Vancouver, Kelowna and Saanich confirm government costs consume as much as 29 per cent of an apartment purchase price and 33 per cent of average rent. A similar Ontario-based study finds government costs as high as 31 per cent.

Frustrated home seekers wanting a modest condo can now see the giant and growing bite of all levels of government in their purchase or rental costs, revealed in a recently updated study by Ryan ULC.

Up from the 26 per cent or $220,256 of the total $840,000 cost of a typical new Vancouver 800-sq.-ft. condo apartment in this 2018 study, those numbers are now a whopping 29.25 per cent or $327,565 in government fees, charges and taxes for a similar-sized unit priced at $1.1M. That’s a 49 per cent increase in government fees, taxes and regulation costs in five years, nearly 10 per cent a year. A buyer with a new 25-year mortgage would pay nearly $600K in total costs when those fees are factored into their mortgage with interest! That’s why we thought vampire was an apt name to use for governments. …[Continue Reading]