Quote:
Originally Posted by Monahammer
I think part of the issue is home standards. Look at old war homes; we could put up tons of homes of much lesser quality than what they build in the suburbs as a base unit, and plenty of people would be happy to live in them. We need more diverse options, and those diverse options can't just be $400,000 classy fitting townhomes. I am talking 3 bedroom 1 bath bungalow boxes, unfinished basements. We could prefab these at this point. Honestly, this seems like a totally self inflicted problem.
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It's not that simple.
Zoning has created land shortages.
When you have a shortage, it's the bottom of the market that gets squeezed out. The reason why builders are only building homes with high end finishings is that people who buy places like that are the only ones left in the market.
Expecting a developer to fork out huge amounts of money to buy land and demolish the old structure (demolition and disposal is insanely expensive now) and then put up a structure with less return is not realistic. As long as the pressures creating this shortage exist, we will only see developers building for the higher end market.
The reason why we saw so many bungalows being built in the 1950s-1970s was that land was insanely cheap. You could buy a suburb plot for next to nothing and then throw a box on it and make an easy margin. Not the case anymore.
Although speaking to build quality. Something built in the 1940-1960s is often a higher quality than many modern builds. Even with new codes, developers are cutting corners wherever they can. Many of the places built in the 1940s-1960s, that are still standing, used techniques that are no longer feasible. For example: large old growth beams, full plaster/wood (as opposed to drywall) walls, oak trimming, oak hardwood, etc...
IMO the biggest rip off is an overpriced strata unit with an inflated price due to higher end appliances and finishings. Those higher end appliance and finishings will need replacing in 10-20 years, and you're left with a strata unit that needs renovation that you overpaid for and won't realize much gain on.