We are at a critical turning point that will determine whether or not Canada will remain a nation of homeowners. Relative to household incomes, house prices in Canada are now the highest on record. Even before the pandemic, a growing share of first-time homebuyers had to depend on money from parents to buy houses. If prices stay at these levels, fewer parents will be able to help their children land a home.

“The bar is being raised further and further,” Eaqub told me in an interview a few years ago. “At these prices (the housing market) is only open to people who have generational wealth.”

The problem is spreading to small-town and rural Canada. House prices have jumped by 30 to 50 per cent in numerous small cities and towns across Ontario over the past year, as well as in many communities in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada. In Nova Scotia’s South Shore region, the benchmark price is up 60.8 per cent in a year, according to CREA data.

Source: Daniel Tencer: Want to avoid U.S.-style populism? Put a lid on house prices – The Line