Wendy Giroux is the CEO of the Durham Region Association of Realtors, an organization of over 1,500 members set up to promote a high ethical standard for REALTORS® by providing vital services, benefits and training needed to succeed. Wendy joins the podcast to talk about the problem of housing affordability, brought into focus by the surges in pricing but rooted in a supply issue. But how did we end up with such a massive gap in supply, and what uncomfortable truths will we need to accept if we’re to fix the problem?
This discussion digs deeply into the recently published report from Ontario’s task force on housing affordability. Many of us would be surprised to learn that for various reasons, Ontario is going to need to build 1.5 million housing units in the next ten years to meet projected demand. Naturally, Wendy shares some background on how we ended up with such a shortfall of supply (hint: it’s not “a COVID thing”) and shares some statistics that put into perspective the gravity of the situation. 10 years ago, a house would be on the market for 43 days. Today, the average time is seven days. The average price of a house in Oshawa alone has just ticked over $1,000,000 for the first time; for perspective, only ten years ago, a single-detached home was only around $261,000.
To learn more about the Durham Region Association of Realtors, visit their website right here. To connect with Wendy Giroux, reach out via her LinkedIn page here.
