New Study Reveals Interesting Information About Empty Homes in Halton
Published August 14, 2019 at 5:52 pm
A recent inhalton article revealed that condos may just be the way to go for buyers who are looking
A recent inhalton article revealed that condos may just be the way to go for buyers who are looking to enter the real estate market in the GTA. This information came from a recent Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) report. However, on the other hand a report from Point2Homes has revealed some interesting information about vacant homes within the Halton Region – and across the country.
Between 2006 and 2016 the number of empty homes across Canada has been on a constant upward trend (particularly in large urban centres such as Toronto). With that said, Point2Homes looked at how the share of empty homes changed between 2006 and 2016 in 150 of the country’s largest cities.
Here’s what Point2Homes found.
Fifty-six Ontario cities were included in the study and it was discovered that the biggest increase in the share of empty homes was in North Bay (68.2 per cent), Milton (46.5 per cent), and Waterloo (29.9 per cent). But on the other side of the spectrum, the areas that saw the biggest drops were Ajax (-53.1 per cent), Burlington (-52 per cent), and Clarington (-48.9 per cent).
Looking at Halton specifically, Milton, as mentioned saw an increase in empty homes while Oakville (-12.5 per cent), Halton Hills (-21.4 per cent), and Burlington (52 per cent) all saw decreases.
Mississauga saw a decrease of 23.1 per cent while Brampton saw a decrease of 16.1 per cent.
“Of the 56 largest cities in Ontario, 16 had reached a vacancy rate of less than 3 per cent as of 2016,” notes the report. “At the other end of the spectrum, five cities have vacancy rates above 10 per cent; in Kawartha Lakes, almost 20 per cent of all private dwellings are unoccupied.”
According to Point2Homes, in 2016 there were 1.34 million empty and temporarily occupied homes in the country. The reason for this?
“Investor speculation and short-term rentals are the main culprits behind high vacancy rates in places like Toronto and Vancouver,” Point2Homes says. “In many other cities across the nation, decreasing populations, combined with fluctuations in local economies, are also contributing to the spike in the number of vacant homes.”
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Are you surprised by these findings?
Graphics are courtesy of Point2Homes.
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