Quote:
Originally Posted by Hali87
A lot of the argument behind densification/redevelopment has been that adding more units will help keep housing prices in check. This does not actually seem to be how things have played out though. The units in new buildings are what I would think of a mid-priced (certainly out of my range for the forseeable future) and assessments on adjacent properties are being driven up simply by virtue of the new developments happening nearby.
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This is fairly theoretical, but I think the downward pressure on housing prices tends to be more regional than local and it happens over a long time scale rather than a short time scale. Brand new housing developments are not going to be cheaper than older, lower quality housing stock, but they do normally move down the market over time.
Something else to note is that apartment starts are above average in Halifax right now and rents have actually
fallen this year in absolute terms during a period of general inflation and wage growth.
It is also hard to say that new construction is driving up prices. It is not enough to say that prices are higher now than they were 10 years ago when really the argument is about whether prices are high than they otherwise would have been without the construction. Maybe, without the condos, there would have been more rehabs of existing houses, pushing even more people out.
At the end of the day, when it comes to Gottingen, I am sympathetic toward the residents but it is also clearly a neighbourhood that wasn't working, and it is also clearly terrible for the region to waste extremely central land while thousands of people are stuck in gridlock because they live in far-flung suburbs. Because Halifax is so small it's also unclear why there's a big difference between living along bombed-out Gottingen Street circa 1992 or living in an area like Spryfield or Fairview.