Cost of housing in Canada

[Good2Golf]

One of the largest and best set up HHs I’ve ever seen. Their lumber is pretty good, too (he said, having grown up watching dad pick through corkscrew wood at Beaver Lumber, back in the day.)

@Remius My wife just wishes their garden centre was larger…it’s actually smaller now than it was at the old store.

 

[Remius]

One of the largest and best set up HHs I’ve ever seen. Their lumber is pretty good, too (he said, having grown up watching dad pick through corkscrew wood at Beaver Lumber, back in the day.)

@Remius My wife just wishes their garden centre was larger…it’s actually smaller now than it was at the old store.

Yeah agreed. But they are well stocked with garden tools and such. We just go to Kniple to get our flowers and plants. That place is expanding as well.

That HH made a smart move upgrading. With all the houses going up in that area it gets a lot of business. Plus a lot of subcontractors are starting to use them much more than before.

A good example of businesses adapting to where people are moving and living.

 

[Halifax Tar]

There is a SAIL not too far and Cabella’s further west. And Canadian Tire on Heron or Greenbank has better hunting and fishing supplies than the CT in our end.

For context this is what that ugly CT is competing with:

View attachment 78950

That's wild. One of the good things about where I live is I have a huge CT, Kent and Home Depot all a short drive from me in Bayers Lake.

 

[RangerRay]

When I moved to Winnipeg, I was surprised that there wasn’t a single Home Hardware in the city. All the other stores (Home Despot, ca-Rona, bLowes, Chinese Wheel, etc. ) are here.

 

[Weinie]

Yeah agreed. But they are well stocked with garden tools and such. We just go to Kniple to get our flowers and plants. That place is expanding as well.

That HH made a smart move upgrading. With all the houses going up in that area it gets a lot of business. Plus a lot of subcontractors are starting to use them much more than before.

A good example of businesses adapting to where people are moving and living.

My two oldest boys used to laugh uproariously when the "Kah-nipple" radio ad came on. The acorns don't fall far from..................

 

[brihard]

For context this is a rapidly growing Ottawa subdivision where retail and services (and road infrastructure) simply haven’t kept up. The province recently overrode the city’s planning and said that a much larger area adjacent to the existing subdivision will get built up as well, so commercial in the area could explode in a minor way. Now we need a nice big grocery store… That’s another thing that hasn’t kept up.

 

[Remius]

For context this is a rapidly growing Ottawa subdivision where retail and services (and road infrastructure) simply haven’t kept up. The province recently overrode the city’s planning and said that a much larger area adjacent to the existing subdivision will get built up as well, so commercial in the area could explode in a minor way. Now we need a nice big grocery store… That’s another thing that hasn’t kept up.

That Freshco was the wrong store to put in there…

 

[brihard]

That Freshco was the wrong store to put in there…

Thing is there isn’t a suitably large retail space in the area yet.

 

[Quirky]

Pierre Poilievre apologizes for calling $539K Niagara home a 'tiny little shack'

'My point was that every (Canadian) should be able to afford a home, which is not the case in Canada today,' the Conservative leader said

nationalpost.com

I would not apologize. That IS a shack. A 1/2 million dollar shack. That house is $150k tops.

 

[Remius]

Pierre Poilievre apologizes for calling $539K Niagara home a 'tiny little shack'

'My point was that every (Canadian) should be able to afford a home, which is not the case in Canada today,' the Conservative leader said

nationalpost.com

I would not apologize. That IS a shack. A 1/2 million dollar shack. That house is $150k tops.

3 bedrooms and 2 bath is hardly a shack. It’s one of those postwar homes built to deal with not enough housing at the time. We need to build more like that. But I bet the property size in an area like Niagara is the real value.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Pierre Poilievre apologizes for calling $539K Niagara home a 'tiny little shack'

'My point was that every (Canadian) should be able to afford a home, which is not the case in Canada today,' the Conservative leader said

nationalpost.com

I would not apologize. That IS a shack. A 1/2 million dollar shack. That house is $150k tops.

That's my house to a T. It is a shack.

 

[Good2Golf]

That Freshco was the wrong store to put in there…

Yup.

Thing is there isn’t a suitably large retail space in the area yet.

Come down to the FoodLand at Bank and Parkway….it has a decent LCBO in it to.

When the city services get down past the HH to Bank-Mitch Owens, there’s supposed to be a big center on the SE corner of the intersection. Retail and a sports arena.

 

[brihard]

Yup.

Come down to the FoodLand at Bank and Parkway….it has a decent LCBO in it to.

When the city services get down past the HH to Bank-Mitch Owens, there’s supposed to be a big center on the SE corner of the intersection. Retail and a sports arena.

I think the provincial decision on the urban boundary will force a rethink. Hopefully an acceleration of the Earl Armstrong expansion through Bank, improvement of Blais, and putting in an additional plaza with a properly sized grocery store maybe at Bank and Blais…

 

[Quirky]

3 bedrooms and 2 bath is hardly a shack. It’s one of those postwar homes built to deal with not enough housing at the time. We need to build more like that. But I bet the property size in an area like Niagara is the real value.

It's a post-war build that's a shack by todays standards. If you want to build tiny little houses in SW Ontario for $500k by all means. There is plenty of land here in western canada where people don't have to be packed in like sardines 10ft apart from their neighbors, if they don't want to. If living in the center of the universe is that important to people, enjoy your $500k shack by the waterfall.

 

[Remius]

It's a post-war build that's a shack by todays standards. If you want to build tiny little houses in SW Ontario for $500k by all means. There is plenty of land here in western canada where people don't have to be packed in like sardines 10ft apart from their neighbors, if they don't want to. If living in the center of the universe is that important to people, enjoy your $500k shack by the waterfall.

Is it overpriced? Likely yes. My argument is that it isn’t a shack.


What would be a more reasonable build size? What would not be a shack? That house is just less than 1000sq feet with a half acre of land.

What would be your standard? Or what is today’s standard? I think today’s standards or what people want upfront is why we have a housing in the first place.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Pierre Poilievre apologizes for calling $539K Niagara home a 'tiny little shack'

'My point was that every (Canadian) should be able to afford a home, which is not the case in Canada today,' the Conservative leader said

nationalpost.com

During a stop in Niagara Falls on Wednesday, Poilievre mentioned how it cost $550,000 to buy a “tiny little shack” and gave out the address of a home, which is currently listed for $539,900. He then noted how much cheaper housing was on the American side of the border.

Maybe there's more than one reason housing is cheaper just across the border.

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And while neither neighbourhood would be on my list of future places to live, it definitely would be preferable to the "cheaper" side of the border.

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[brihard]

Is it overpriced? Likely yes. My argument is that it isn’t a shack.


What would be a more reasonable build size? What would not be a shack? That house is just less than 1000sq feet with a half acre of land.

What would be your standard? Or what is today’s standard? I think today’s standards or what people want upfront is why we have a housing in the first place.

It’s only 51’ X 150’ if you look at the listing. If it were a half acre I’m sure it would be selling for two million or more; that would fit 5-8 detached homes depending on how half an acre were divided. I bet most of these houses are being bought to be knocked down and built over.

 

[Quirky]

What would be a more reasonable build size? What would not be a shack? That house is just less than 1000sq feet with a half acre of land.

Less than 1000sqft, for a stand alone house, on half acre is a shack. Then again it was built before these huge 1500-2000sqft cookie cutter monsters that dominate modern neighbourhoods. Doesn’t really matter what you define a house, it’s what your preference and family and income situation. Square foot is largely irrelevant if it’s not built properly, personally I hate when floor plans have massive bedrooms. That’s a waste of space in my view.

 

[Remius]

Less than 1000sqft, for a stand alone house, on half acre is a shack. Then again it was built before these huge 1500-2000sqft cookie cutter monsters that dominate modern neighbourhoods. Doesn’t really matter what you define a house, it’s what your preference and family and income situation. Square foot is largely irrelevant if it’s not built properly, personally I hate when floor plans have massive bedrooms. That’s a waste of space in my view.

Google shack. It’s a hut or a house that is falling apart. That house is not that. It actually looks fairly well maintained tbh.

So it depends on your definition. But by the actual definition it isn’t that.

It does matter how you define it. The renter in that house took offense to what was perceived as a derogatory comment to make a point. Agreed that it’s small, agreed that it’s overpriced but I would not call it a shack just because some people are used to more luxurious abodes.

I really don’t care at the end of the day. I don’t live there and PP did the right thing and apologized. Good on him for doing that.

All this confirms for me is that certain people have high and unrealistic expectations about what is reasonable affordable housing.

More homes like that one in greater numbers are needed to make housing more affordable. Build more for less, sell low for entry level people. Increase the supply. Characterize those as shacks and people won’t want that stigma.

 

[brihard]

Google shack. It’s a hut or a house that is falling apart. That house is not that. It actually looks fairly well maintained tbh.

So it depends on your definition. But by the actual definition it isn’t that.

It does matter how you define it. The renter in that house took offense to what was perceived as a derogatory comment to make a point. Agreed that it’s small, agreed that it’s overpriced but I would not call it a shack just because some people are used to more luxurious abodes.

I really don’t care at the end of the day. I don’t live there and PP did the right thing and apologized. Good on him for doing that.

All this confirms for me is that certain people have high and unrealistic expectations about what is reasonable affordable housing.

More homes like that one in greater numbers are needed to make housing more affordable. Build more for less, sell low for entry level people. Increase the supply. Characterize those as shacks and people won’t want that stigma.

Most of the price these days isn’t the house, it’s the land. That small post-war house is on 7500 square feet of land (not half an acre). That’s a large lot by today’s urban standards. My neighbourhood varies between 35 and 52’ width lots usually on 100’ depth. MUCH larger houses of course.

We can call those small houses ‘overpriced’, but of course something is worth what the purchaser will pay.