GTA faces widest housing gap in over 50 years amid soaring population growth

financialpost.com:

The Greater Toronto Area‘s (GTA) housing crisis is intensifying, with new data revealing that high municipal fees and prolonged approval processes are driving up the cost of new homes.

The latest Municipal Benchmarking Study from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), developed by Altus Group Economic Consulting, warns that the region’s housing supply is lagging dangerously behind population growth, signalling an impending crisis if immediate action isn’t taken.

According to the study, the gap between housing stock and population growth in the GTA is the widest it has been in over 50 years.

“This is a bright red warning light on the dashboard for all levels of government,” BILD president and chief executive David Wilkes said in a press release.

“Without bold steps, the housing crisis in the GTA is going to get far worse in the years ahead.”

A key factor contributing to this issue is the length of time it takes for new housing projects to receive municipal approvals. The study found that, on average, it takes 20 months for housing projects to gain approval, adding significant costs to developers and, ultimately, to homebuyers. For each month of delay, an additional $2,673 to $5,576 is added to the cost of each unit. Based on average approval timeframes, this results in an increase of $43,000 to $90,000 per new home.

Adding to the burden are high municipal fees, taxes and charges that account for almost 25 per cent of the cost of a new home in the GTA. The study notes that since 2022, municipal fees alone have increased by an average of $42,000 per unit for low-rise developments and $32,000 for high-rise units. As a result, municipal fees now add an average of $122,387 to the cost of a condominium