'The new normal': Why housing starts are declining in Windsor-Essex

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) new builds are falling below projections.

“We're about 36 per cent of where we should be for this year, so that’s a substantial lag,” said Vince Lapico, president of the Windsor-Essex Home Builders’ Association.

According to the CMHC, in June 2023 there were only 56 new homes started, compared to 179 last year.

The City of Windsor alone has committed to building 13,000 homes in the next eight years.

That breaks down to 1,625 homes every year or 135 per month.

“There was a super high demand post-COVID and that drove up land costs so a lot of people had to buy land at very high prices and it's caused the cost of new homes to go up substantially,” said Lapico.

He adds soaring interest rates for mortgages have scared people out of the real estate market.

“I think that the real estate market had a lot of hype behind it that was causing homes worth $200,000 to sell for $500,000 because there was a lot of excitement. And I think that that's remedying itself (now)”said Lapico. “The unintended consequence of that is you know, hampering new construction.”

Lapico believes however consumers need to accept this as “the new normal”.

“(People) need to be able to go back to budgeting and understanding what their money in and money out is and work(ing) within their means,” he said.