The housing rental industry boomed over the last year, for a number of factors. Rental housing grew by 25,226 units in just one year, an increase that equals that of the previous seven years combined! The year-on-year increase was 8.7%
One of the main factors attributing to this drastic change is that the cost of construction materials has increased so much that building a home just doesn’t make financial sense at the moment. The higher price of materials stems from the war between Russia and Ukraine. The price of structural steel, year-on-year, in April, increased 54%, asphalt 48%, electrical cables 28%, and reinforcing steel 22%.
Another factor is that there’s been a rise in interest rates that makes credit more expensive and loans to purchase or build a home more difficult to access.
Lastly, we are seeing that the younger population is less tied down to a specific home or town. They may travel or study abroad. They are not as set on owning their own home as previous generations were.
