Southern Ontario Housing Market Sees Increase 2 Years After the Fair Housing Plan

Housing marketing increasing in southern Ontario

Southern Ontario housing markets continued to grow in the two years after the Fair Housing Plan (FHP) was introduced by the former Liberal provincial government, reports Zoocasa.

This online brokerage recently analyzed MLS data in order to analyze on how every major housing market in Ontario has fared since the FHP was announced in April 2017.

What happened?

The FHP introduced 16 measures designed to chill the market, including rent controls and a foreign buyer tax. Its real effect was psychological, however, as both buyers and sellers were operating under a cloud of uncertainty. Prices and sales immediately cooled. But that was two years ago — what’s the story now?

Zoocasa found that markets in southern Ontario, in contrast to the York Region and the eastern suburbs, remained largely unscathed, having posted steady gains since then.

Cause of market increase

The success of this region is likely due to the fact that properties are still fairly affordable, and the job landscape is strong. Windsor homes shot up a full 25 per cent in price to $344,000 while London homes climbed 19 per cent to $430,000. Buyers priced out of Toronto are likely to have contributed to levels of high demand in this city.

Smaller cities also doing well

Other smaller, more affordable cities also did well.

Barrie homes for sale shot up 7 per cent to $563,530 and Kitchener real estate rose 5 per cent to just over $500,000.

York Region, eastern, western Ontario, not doing so well

Meanwhile, York Region, which is mostly full of expensive single-family homes, got hit the hardest. Prices fell upwards of -30 per cent and activity stalled.

Similarly, western cities along Lake Ontario proved to not be as resilient. Expensive Oakville sank 18 per cent, neighbouring Burlington by 4 per cent and Brampton by 6 per cent.

The eastern suburbs, for reasons that are unclear, considering that they too are also affordable, also plunged in price. That includes Oshawa down 17 per cent, Whitby, down 15 per cent and Ajax down 12 per cent.

Looking forward, it’s too early to say what the FHP holds for the future. The government is now Conservative and they’ve already rolled back rent controls and created a new housing guide, called Housing Supply Action Plan.

Ontario housing market infographic

Check out the infographic below for a full ranking of Ontario cities.

By Zoocasa

Zoocasa.com is a leading real estate company that combines online search tools and a full-service brokerage to empower Canadians to buy or sell their homes faster, easier and more successfully. Home buyers can browse real estate listings on the website or the free iOS app.