Mr. Speaker, Canada is in a housing crisis. After 10 years of Liberal policy failures, home prices have doubled, down payments have doubled and rent has doubled. According to Teranet, which is Ontario's land registry office, the average age of a first-time homebuyer in Ontario last year was 40, up from 34 a decade earlier. Keep in mind that this is the average age. That means there are people buying their first home when they are 45 or 50, or even older.
Furthermore, Bild GTA recently found that Toronto's preconstruction home sales have collapsed. Last month, sales of preconstruction homes were 89% below the 10-year average and had decreased 72% since April 2024. This marks the seventh consecutive month of record-low sales of new homes across the GTA. Sadly, it is expected to get worse, with Bild saying, “The new housing industry is decelerating quickly and a massive supply deficit in the 2027 to 2029 period is taking shape.” Bild also confirmed that the Liberals' GST cut for first-time homebuyers “will not substantially help address affordability, nor will it help significantly stimulate sales and construction.”
Meanwhile, existing homeowners are also struggling with the rising cost of housing and groceries. According to Equifax, homeowners experienced a 6.5% increase in delinquency, as 90-day-plus mortgage delinquencies have increased 71.5% in Ontario and 33.3% in B.C. since the first quarter of 2024. They are not alone, as 1.4 million Canadians were unable to make a credit payment in the first quarter of 2024.
It is simply astonishing to think of the damage done to the housing market after 10 years of the Liberal government. Simply put, sellers cannot sell, buyers cannot buy and many families are struggling to make their mortgage payments. That is the Liberal track record.
In my riding, the communities of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake are also grappling with the housing crisis. The Niagara Home Builders' Association has said that housing starts in Niagara are at a 10-year low. According to the Niagara region, the median rent for a one-bedroom unit is $1,550, which is up 19.2% since 2021, while the median rent for a two-bedroom unit is $1,800, which is up 12.5% since 2021. Furthermore, St. Catharines has the 11th-highest rents in Canada.
This is the lost Liberal decade, and today the dream of home ownership is even further out of reach for many Canadians. The Prime Minister's new housing minister was formerly the mayor of Vancouver, yes, the city that is one of the most expensive cities in the world to buy property and is perhaps the epicentre of Canada's housing crisis. Under his watch, Vancouver rent increased by 50%, home prices increased by 150% and homelessness ramped up nearly 40%. That is a shameful track record for the person now in charge of and responsible for solving Canada's housing crisis on a national scale. It makes no sense.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to ask the Minister of Housing a question during question period. I was not satisfied with the minister's response, so I am taking this opportunity to ask it again to give the government more time and another chance to try to justify its actions. Can the minister and the Prime Minister tells us why Canadians should trust them and their government to fix the housing crisis they created?