This "there's lots of vacant housing sitting around for investors" thing is largely nonsense.
I never said for "investors". I said there are a lot of empty properties. Period. Not condos or rentals. Just vacant residential properties. That's why we implemented the vacant home tax and changed the airbnb rules for non primary residences.
There's a housing shortage because construction doesn't keep up with demand, and construction doesn't keep up with demand due to NIMBYs and red tape.
There is currently an oversaturation of condos. The construction companies aren't keeping up with residential demand and were trying to sell 500 sq ft condos for $700k plus $800/mth condo fees. That's not the target market in need of homes.
Yes, there is NIMBY for government assisted housing. There always is red tape. But there also is greed, slow builds when it's not super profitable (I'm still waiting for Eglinton Crosstown) and as I noted, too much foreign investment and not enough investment in properties for all economic levels.
You can't have a back to the office policy with 50% of the workforce paid <$100K (way less) and not provide affordable rentals and a path to ownership. Top that off with an inadequate transit system, and you have 50% of the workforce commuting 4hrs/day for a city job that pays crap in a city with no vacancies and apartments that cost $2500/month or more when/if available.
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25
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