[otoburb]

>>The standard of living and affordability has objectively dropped for young people today. [...] But according to some people, hey you can still get into the market! Just buy a condo!

I remember the frenzy of the '89 housing bubble & early 90's bust especially in Toronto when mortgage interest rates were in the low teens and everybody and their dog was flipping property. The subsequent crash was painful but also allowed new families to get into a more affordable market.

I stand by my comment that it's still possible to buy something for a new family even if it's smaller than what they grew up with. The driver for the reduced affordability is, as you eloquently noted, because of our very liberal immigration policy that allows for continued regional growth coupled with low interest rates.

If you're a homeowner, you want the value of your property to continue to rise. But then this crowds out a younger demographic looking to purchase their first starter properties (condos or houses). We can't have it both ways.

[elixirnogood]

I've lived in both Bay Area and Toronto. Toronto has become absurdly expensive. You can get a 3-4 bedroom modern townhouse in Dublin/Pleasanton for 850K USD. It's common for a senior software engineer to make 200-230K. You can't buy an equivalent housing in Toronto for 850K CAD. Crappy townhouses in Richmond Hill go for 900K - 1M+ and similar housing will be 1.2 - 1.4M. it's also extremely difficult to make 200K+ CAD in Toronto (senior engineers make ~140K). A relative of mine does mortgages so has accurate statistics on how much people make.