OK, let's get something straight. When a one bedroom 650 square foot condo costs over $500,000 to own, you have a housing crises. When there is a waiting list to rent an ~ $850/ month ~ 256 square foot apartment, you have a housing crises.
The ITC Construction company along with architect Bruce Carscadden, seem to be downsizing living space to keep up with tumbling net worth in an overheated housing market. The company markets the veritable closets to urban dwellers but no one wants to live in a space comparable in size to a jail cell. This is just the latest symptom of a much larger problem:
Canadians can no longer afford to live in Canada, or at the very least enjoy the same standard of living previous generations had. According to the Eighth Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, which covers 325 metropolitan markets around the world, Vancouver ranks second least affordable. Don't worry Toronto and Montreal, you aren't far behind with a rating of 18th and 23rd least affordable respectively.
Standing in stark contrast Canada was rated one of the more affordable countries to live in, only if you don't live in a major urban center, which includes over a third of the total Canadian population.
How do most Canadians manage to keep up the illusion that all is well? Easy, large amounts of debt. Those who choose to live within their means are resigned to live in smaller, rented properties, perhaps never knowing the joys of home ownership or retirement. Most people may still yet enjoy a small slice of paradise, a 221 square foot slice of paradise.
source - least affordable housing markets
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