"LRTs displace all the poor people"?

[Owen]

To both mpd618 & MidTowner: What you're saying makes sense in that it would reduce the overall price slightly, but I think my point still stands:  The cost per unit to build (even completely omitting parking) has very little to do with the luxury/premium finishes within the unit (unless they are exceptionally high-end, but that is not the case with the majority of the units in the condos going up).    Condo units - even without parking - are still in the $200k's or higher.  What everyone always misses is that the rents are dictated by the mortgages.  Lets assume a a $250k condo with no parking - a landlord gets an 80% LTV mortgage - the payment is $930/month (CIBC mort calculator - 1 yr closed at 2.84%) + property taxes + insurance + condo fees.  That unit is going to be on the rental market for $1500/month.   Pretty sure that's not affordable housing.

I don't want to seem like I have no respect for individuals who buy condo units to rent. But purpose-built and professionally-managed apartment buildings are a much bigger part of the rental market. One positive is that we're finally seeing purpose-built rental stock being built again, and I think in many parts of our region rents are holding steady for that reason.*

You're absolutely right that finishes are a tiny part of the cost of providing housing, and people get a bit confused about "high-end" finishes being a big cause or component of high housing costs. I think rents are not really married to construction costs, either, especially when a lot of buildings around could probably have been fully depreciated by now. It's supply and demand which set rents, ultimately, and when supply is constricted (or demand shoots up), rents reflect that.

I don't think we're in the midst of any kind of affordable housing crisis. We should be proactive in trying to ensure that people of a variety of means are able to live in places with good access to employment and services, even when demand goes up as a result of LRT.

*This reminds me of a conversation I had with someone I ran into by chance. She evidently owns a triplex in the Victoria Park area, and was complaining about the city approving condo projects, and viewed that as a cause of her rents going down in the last few years. She told me by how much, but I doubted the veracity of the specific number. Her logic was fuzzy at best. I'm not sure, but my experience does tell me that rents in Kitchener have not been going up very fast lately.

I'm curious what the rents are going to be over at the Belmont project - agree with all your points on supply/demand setting the rental pricing. I've heard from many that a lot of buyers of the new Condo projects are individuals hoping to get into investment properties - personally, i think they are going to be upside-down every month as the price for single bedroom condo is going to require rents higher than the going market rate for a single bedroom apartment just to break even. I own two triplexes and several rental houses (all in the downtown) - we are preparing for the influx of supply by steadily upgrading all our units to the premium fit and finishes - all else being equal (nice kitchens with granite and stainless steel appliances, new hardwood flooring, and nice bathrooms) I think rental of 2 or 3 bedroom houses (with parking and back yards) will easily compete with rental of 1 or 2 bedroom condos. The people who will be in trouble are the ones trying to rent run-down units at high prices.