Expert homebuying advice from David Hill, President of Ballantry Homes
December 06, 2023
Housing supply, rising interest rates, affordability, inflation, the economy… homebuyers have a lot to think about these days, when it comes to things that may impact their purchasing decisions.
To help you understand all the factors to make a better, more informed homebuying decision, our 2023 Builders' Annual sat down with some of the industry’s top builders and developers for expert advice.
Given the various characteristics of today’s housing market, what is your outlook for 2024?
The housing market is hard to predict now because there are a lot of uncertainties, and one of the biggest ones is interest rates. Interest rates will largely impact the affordability for all homebuyers and investors. However, the housing shortage will still exist, people still need new homes to live, the supply shortage issue will always remain. With the continuous growth on development charges, levies, cost of supplies, shortage of well-trained trades, developers cannot afford to build cheaper houses. The provincial government says we need approximately 150,000 new units per year, yet with the existing trades, builders can build only less than half of this amount, so the shortage will just get worse. Government will need to take more responsibilities and give more solutions on making houses more affordable in 2024.
What advice would you offer to buyers?
Buyers need to evaluate their financial situation and make a reasonable purchase or investment in the current market. First, buyers should know what they can afford under the current rate, and plan with the current rate, not a lower rate. Second, purchasers should look for projects that can keep the values or have better growth potential, such as location, product and finishes. Third, purchasers should study the builders and developers on the projects and make sure they have a good reputation in terms of fulfilling the contracts with purchasers (such as project completions and cancellations). It is my opinion that now would be a good time to buy, since prices are coming down. Based on supply and demand, and demand will always outstrip supply, prices will eventually go up, in the future.
Governments of all levels are pulling out all the stops to facilitate more new housing. What more could any of them do to help the cause?
Governments of all levels might have started pulling out all the stops, but we haven’t seen anything that is in place yet. As development charges have been reviewed and increased more often than ever, application processes and processing of permits are not taking any shorter. The provincial government (both the current Conservatives and the previous Liberals) has tried their best to make things getting better, but the municipalities go out of their way to push back on anything the Province comes up with. Municipalities are the problem, and there needs to be a review on how things are done there.
What is it about your company that you would like prospective buyers to understand as they go through the homebuying process?
Ballantry Homes tries to facilitate homebuyers’ needs and requirements as much as we can along the homebuying process. We now adopt flexible payment structures to help release the financial stress, deal with home purchasers individually to facilitate their needs. For the projects we launched recently, the condo project in heart of Uptown Oakville, The Villages of Oak Park, and luxury single-detached homes in heart of Brampton, Spring Valley, they both have very good potential in terms of value, location, design and finishes. Homebuyers can visit our website to learn more about our projects.