Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
The main drivers these days are immigration-driven population growth relative to new supply and financial/regulatory considerations relating to housing itself that leads to bubbly pricing. I don't think these clearly map on to the NDP vs. Cons. The NDP have had more of a role in the current government that has overseen a catastrophic deterioration of housing affordability in the last few years. IMO the Canadian public doesn't really grasp the magnitude of what has gone wrong and there are so many third rails and sacred cows in Canada that politicians can't generally propose the kind of policy shift that's needed (fiscal discipline, halting human QE and live with miserable economic growth numbers, building lots of housing even if it annoys NIMBYs, etc.).
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Pretty much this.
The various 'prop up things by thowing money/half-assed solution at it' avenues are closing, and late-era government policy is mostly the act of trying to pretend things are fine when they're not.
So, what would make me happy?
1. Acknowledgement that pain has to come via deleveraging and not just piling on more debt at a consumer or government level.
2. The acceptance that people who bought insanely inflated-price homes and can no longer afford them are going to lose said homes and will not be bailed out.
3. A reduction of the amount of students/TFWs entering the country to reduce pressure on the rental side of the housing market when this happens, so that those locals who are losing their homes will have somewhere to land and rebuild.
4. This reduction in labour supply will take the sting out of the inevitable recession and prevent a big pop upwards in unemployment numbers.
5. A policy of pro-housing and pro-rental development in context of the expected growth of the country so as to divorce the idea that one's shelter is also an appreciating financial asset.
6. Government moves towards balance by accepting that its programs must be paid for by taxes and not obligations to future generations.
7. Tighter restrictions on future mortgages.
This will be an ugly process, but perhaps controllable if we accept it as a process. It's just less ugly than the big oscillations of government will be when some sort of world financial/debt crisis hits us smack in the face without warning.