Population and Housing

[rangersfan]

Higher-density living reshapes region’s urban landscape
Nov 25, 2014 | Rose Simone | The Record | LINK

KITCHENER — Throughout Waterloo Region, the shift to more compact living is obvious.

Townhouses, condominium units and highrise apartment buildings are going up at a rapid pace, changing and redefining an urban landscape that has been dominated by single family houses.

To Erica McLerie, a senior market analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, it is a sign of the times and what people in this region will see more of in the future.

In the past, as the region's population grew, the construction of single detached homes and multi-unit buildings went up in tandem, she said. Now, there is a slowdown in the number of single houses being built, yet continued growth in the construction of apartments and townhouses, McLerie said at a housing outlookseminar at Bingemans in Kitchener on Tuesday.

This year saw more than double the number of apartment starts and 40 per cent higher number of townhouse starts, McLerie said. The housing corporation does expect the apartment construction to dip next year after the record-high 2,100 units built this year, as demand catches up with supply.

But the longer term future, into the year 2021, is definitely pointing toward more higher-density living, McLerie said. "That is due to the demographics as well as the affordability."

By 2021, there will be 30,000 more households in this region, McLerie said. But couple households without children and one-person households are the two segments growing the most. Those households don't need as much space, she added.

Behind this trend are millennials, who range from teenagers to people in their early 30s and baby boomers, ages 48 to 68, she said.

McLerie said about one quarter of adult children ages 25 to 29 are still living with their parents. They are likely to become future renters and, when they do buy, they will be looking for affordable housing options, she added. That generation is also more likely to form couple households without children.

Meanwhile, baby boomers represent 24 per cent of the population, and, as their children move out, they may want to downsize, while remaining in the same neighbourhood and community, McLerie said. "There will be challenges and opportunities to build the type of housing that this group will demand as they age."

Students and immigrants will continue to add to the apartment demand, she added.

Guelph, meanwhile, has even more demand, McLerie said. "The rental market is very tight in Guelph. It is one of the tightest markets in Ontario and that will likely continue," she said.

The Region of Waterloo's official plan is meanwhile calling for higher-density growth and infilling as opposed to suburban sprawl, McLerie said.

The light rail transit under construction in Kitchener and Waterloo will push that trend, with more condominiums and apartments being built around those stations, she added.

But the growth of the region will support all kinds of housing, including the already-existing single detached homes, McLerie said.

Prices of resale homes in the Waterloo region will continue to go up, although price increases are expected to slow down near the end of 2015 if mortgage rates go up, she added. Guelph, meanwhile, is expected to remain a "seller's market."

Since 2009, about 98,000 people have moved into the Waterloo region area, while 80,000 moved away, McLerie said. The more affordable houses, as well as jobs, are attracting people from Peel, York, Halton and Durham regions, as well as from other countries, she added.