Housing shortfall, costs and affordability

[MidTowner]

The fact that "Approximately 80% of Vienna either privately or socially rents" is an important difference between Austrian and Canadian society.

As Bravado notes, the two-thirds of Canadians who own homes are mostly quite opposed to government reducing their value. And most Canadians have a strong preference for owning over renting.

Our best bet is for the government to take a step back, not muddy things up even more.

Canadians are not a different species from Vienenes.

Vienese rent because their government policy makes renting a good and often better option to owning. Canadians seek to own because our government policy makes renting a worse option, and our media makes renters out to be losers.

Government "stepping back" isn't a thing...government exists physically and metaphorically between us all as Canadians. They never step back, they only step towards one group or another, and away from one group or another (and practically many many different groups with the same step). But it is also often very hard to know what group any step will take the government towards or from.

I'm sure that Viennese rent for all kinds of reasons. Germans also rent in high proportion, and I think that's at least in part because of cultural reasons, and the historical and social impact of the Second World War. And other reasons.

Government could stop providing insurance for residential mortgages; it could get rid of HST rebates designed to incentivize first-time home ownership and so juice the market; it could get rid of tax-advantaged savings accounts that must be spent on bidding up the price of houses. It's not likely to do that, but it could. At least it could refrain more yet more measures to increase house prices.