Quote:
Originally Posted by accord1999
But isn't that the problem, even in Montreal which has had a relatively mild real estate boom the price of such homes are still way above what the local median household can afford (or should spend).
In a ideal world, people would have a large home near where they work and amenities, and a large estate in the country when they don't need to be in the city. But given financial limits, once motorized transportation (and especially cars) became available for day-to-day trips, people prioritized space/$. Hence most city cores in the NE and Midwest US and parts of western Europe being no bigger and often lower in population than they were 50-100 years ago.
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I was responding to the point people generally prioritize detached homes over location. This isn't true. This group, which contains mostly people who live in Calgary, so this group has an inherent bias towards detached homes. Obviously I get that everyone has their own priorities, but my point is that we'd see a lot more people staying closer to city centres if they had more housing options, specifically if more 3 bedroom townhouses were available.
The whole issue with incomes vs. housing prices has been out of proportion for a long time. People are simply borrowing huge amounts at record low interest rates.