How the new Federal Budget will affect Affordability of Housing in Canada and Montreal Specifically

It might not be all grim in the Canadian housing trend after this year’s federal budget which promises to tackle the housing need of all cities in the country is actually implemented. More than $500,000 has already been allocated towards gathering information about foreigner’s buying trends of houses in the country by the federal government. Continue reading to learn how this year’s budget will affect your city’s housing situation and especially for the city of Montreal.

Governments rely on statistics and data when making new policies about anything. Once research is done and data is processed by the responsible government officials, the real estate players will start to feel the effects of the budget’s pinch which will affect both the buyers and sellers. Data is in fact a very powerful tool in any sector of the economy, and once this research is done, house prices might start to reduce or increase in some areas.

On the other hand, this year’s budget has allocated $2.3 billion in enhancing affordable housing throughout the country. This is of course quite a relief to the people who are planning to buy houses maybe after five years, but for now things will remain constant. In Montreal, where the housing costs have been increasing steadily albeit at a lower rate than Vancouver, there might be little change experienced. This is mainly because the $2.3 billion budget is targeting to improve the living conditions of the lower income earning seniors.

But there is hope still, as Doug Porter, the chief economist at the bank of Montreal argues. Porter says that the country’s plan to facilitate the construction of more than 10,000 units is quite a big deal to Canadians in general. According to the economist however, a plan of this kind has had mixed reactions in the past. At times, the plan has had little or no effect especially if you consider a city like Vancouver where the housing costs are going through the roof.

Additionally, a hope for better housing throughout Canada is still brightened by the federal budget’s promise to tackle the country’s hard hit cities. Montreal is among them, which means that people might start seeing new construction sites in the next few weeks. And once the government completes the housing project, there will be a relief of some kind as people shift rental to buy the government constructed houses. The budget on the other hand also tackles issues to do with infrastructure, investments and clean technology; all which aid in determining the scope of house affordability in the country.

The pressure to end homeliness in the country might also be a contributing factor of lower housing costs in the next few years. Both the provincial and federal leaders are actually comfortable with the budget, and the massive amounts of cash invested in the transit, water and research might all help come with a basis of how to enhance house affordability in Montreal in the next few years.