Mayor Joins the FCM in Pressing the Federal Government for Action on Affordable Housing

Mayor Dennis O’Keefe has pledged to join the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in continuing to press the Federal Government for a long-term plan and concrete action to address the national housing crisis.

"The rising cost of housing is an issue we see in cities across the country," said Mayor O’Keefe. "Cities and communities are ready and willing to help protect the economy and solve this housing crisis but we need federal and provincial partners who are committed to working with us."

In the last ten years, new home prices in St. John’s have doubled, rising faster over the last five years than any city in Canada. In the same period, local rental vacancy rates were amongst the lowest in Canada and the average market rent continues to rise. Waitlists for social housing remain high. (See backgrounder below)

"While there were some encouraging words about homelessness and affordable housing, Budget 2014 failed to spell out the specific steps that need to be taken if we are to achieve real, measurable improvements here in St. John’s," said Mayor O’Keefe.

A total of $1.5 billion dollars for social housing will be lost over the next 5 years, as a result of expiring federal investments. Without a long-term plan and leadership by the federal government, up to 1/3 of the country’s social housing units – which are home to more than half a million Canadians – will eventually be lost.

The City of St. John’s will continue pushing the federal government to reveal specific steps and a timeline to address Canada's housing crunch. Meanwhile, FCM is calling on Minister Bergen to agree to immediately start the conversation on the housing crunch with Canada’s big city Mayors when they assemble in Ottawa later this month.

For further information:
Susan Bonnell
Manager, Marketing and Communications
City of St. John’s
(709) 576-3906
sbonnell@stjohns.ca

Dennis O’Keefe
Mayor, City of St. John’s
(709) 576-8477
dokeefe@stjohns.ca

BACKGROUNDER

Affordable Housing Statistics, City of St. John’s

Housing
In the last ten years, new home prices in St. John’s have doubled, from $194,958 in 2005 to $395,608 in 2013.

• Average MLS house listings prices have increased 54% since 2009 alone.
• Housing prices in St. John’s rose faster than any city in Canada for much of 2008-13. In 2008, the new housing price index was 130.3; as of December, 2013 it was 150.9.
• According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, there were 759 housing starts in the City of St. John’s in 2013; 457 were single-detached homes and 302 were multiples. In 2012 there were 1,001 housing starts in the City. Housing starts in the St. John’s metro area decreased as well with 1,734 housing starts in 2013, a decrease of 19.5% over 2012. Single-detached starts remained relatively close to 2012 levels; multi-family starts were weak in the St. John’s metro area in 2013. Source: www.cmhc.ca

Rental Properties
In terms of rental properties, local rental vacancy rates were in the bottom five for municipalities in Canada for much of the last five years

• The availability of affordable rent is still very low.
• Increases in average market rent have outpaced inflation for several consecutive years. Average rent in 2005 was $589 a month; by comparison, average rent in Oct 2013 was $804 in the St. John’s metropolitan area.
• The vacancy rate for private apartments in the St. John’s census metropolitan area (CMA) increased to 3.2% in October 2013, remaining above the ten year average of 2.5%.
• According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Rental Market Report, average rents continue to climb in St. John’s. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in October 2013 was $864 compared to $798 a year ago. Local market intelligence suggests that demand for rented condos have attracted tenants from the aging units in the surveyed rental market.

Subsidized Housing
Presently, there are 265 individuals and families on wait list for the City of St. John's Non-Profit Housing, and 268 on the wait list for NL Housing within the City