Ont. mayor can’t afford to buy house in township she leads
kitchener.ctvnews.ca
Waterloo Region’s red-hot housing market hits close to home for Wilmot Township Mayor Natasha Salonen.

Time to loosen zoning restrictions and say no to NIMBYs Ms. Mayor. *

Despite earning around $90,000 a year between her work as mayor, regional councillor and with the local electric utility, she says she can’t afford to buy a home in the municipality she leads.

* yeah, she’s still paying off student loans, and I don’t know what zoning restrictions are like in her community. But still.

  • sbv@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
    30·
    1 year ago

    Home owners loving those paper gains and won’t realize it destroys the social fabric of their communities until it’s too late.

    Most home owners I know either

    1. Don’t want the gains, because they can’t afford to buy a nicer place even if they sell their current place.

    2. Are unhappy about growing mortgage payments.

    3. Are worried about their kids being able to afford a place.

    The gains only benefit people who can cash out and move away. Most homeowners (I know) wouldn’t want to borrow against the house value because repayment is so expensive.

    • EhForumUser@lemmy.ca
      8·
      1 year ago

      That is true. The value of my home doesn’t mean much to me. If it is worth $1 tomorrow, oh well? Who cares?

      But it is troubling to think what will happen when most other homeowners are underwater and their debt gets called. That is going to hurt all of us.

      • cyberpunk007@lemmy.world
        5·
        1 year ago

        Yeah homes being viewed as an investment is stupid and only came to be for those that could afford to buy lots.

        • EhForumUser@lemmy.ca
          2·
          1 year ago

          Homes became an investment when living near your workplace became a necessity. Any tool which facilities an income is going to naturally become an investment. That’s what investment is.

          The COVID thing decoupling some jobs from location has helped marginally – seeing a small decline in home values (although perhaps moving it to places where jobs were previously less commonly found) – but that can only get you so far. The vast majority of income sources are still location dependent.

      • sbv@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        HELOCs may burn some folks. They were gaining popularity while interest was low. That is going to add to the burden of those who loaded up on debt.

      • Shard@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        I might actually be happy if my home was suddenly only worth a dollar.

        That would cut my property tax way down

    • yiliu@informis.landEnglish
      81·
      1 year ago
      1. Still don’t support re-zoning their area to allow denser mixed-use housing (in my experience).
    • BedSharkPal@lemmy.ca
      81·
      1 year ago

      Well someone should tell them to vote that way. There’s a reason no party other than the greens will even dare speak of the fact that prices need to come down to increase affordability.

      • sbv@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I’m guessing the next federal election will be on pocketbook issues. I don’t know where home ownership will fit in there.