Locals say the housing market in Waterloo region is no longer affordable

Photo by Darien Funk

The average price of houses jumped by 34 per cent in Waterloo region, and 23 per cent province wide year over year.

This has made it increasingly unaffordable for community members to rent or purchase homes.

A report showed that Ontario needs to add one million homes to keep up with population growth in the region. 

Beisan Zubi, a former federal NDP candidate said she is “priced out of buying a home.”

“I don’t think there is any kind of path for a single-income person to be able to afford at least a home, let alone market rates of rentals,” she said in an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.

She listed investments in alternative forms of housing, including co-operative housing, affordable housing, and community housing as actions she wants to see from the government.

Another local in Kitchener, Meghan Lennox, said that renting is better than buying a home, and that the government needs to focus on housing for homeless people and Indigenous people. 

Scott Macdonald, a property manager in the region also shared the feedback he received from renters.

“I do get that [prices] are a little high. In general, I think it’s a little high in the region.”

The housing market continues to be unaffordable and both renters and buyers are being “squeezed out.”

More info to come.

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