Oakville builds housing units at record pace, tops Region’s affordability target
Published July 13, 2022 at 12:30 pm
Oakville added new homes at a record pace in 2021.
The town added a record 2,921 new housing units last year, exceeding Halton Region’s target for new unit housing affordability as well as mixed housing.
Affordable housing has been front and centre across the country and has been a key issue locally with the steep rise in home prices in what is considered Canada’s most expensive real estate market.
Halton Region’s Housing Affordability Target calls for at least 30 per cent of new housing units produced annually in Halton to be at or below the affordable threshold.
Oakville did better than just hitting the housing mix target for the 11th consecutive year.
The town had 34.6 per cent of its sales at or below the affordable threshold with an average price of $369,741 compared to the regional average of 30.5 per cent achieved.
In 2021, new sales in Oakville accounted for 23.3 per cent of total new sales in Halton.
The Regional Official Plan target related to the mix of new housing development (at least 50 per cent of new housing units produced in the form of townhouses or multi-storey buildings) was also achieved at 62.7 per cent.
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In 2021, there were a total of 3,963 new housing unit completions in Halton, an increase from 3,338 in 2020 (up by 18.7 per cent). There were 5,549 new housing units under construction, an increase from 4,941 in 2020 (up by 12.3 per cent) with an additional 4,604 new housing unit starts, an increase from 4,238 in 2020 (up by 8.6 per cent).
The growth in housing in Oakville is expected to continue.
According to a forecast provided to the town by Watson & Associates Economics Ltd., over the next four years Oakville will add more than 10 per cent of its housing supply, which was pegged at 73,558 occupied private dwellings in 2021.
Forecasts show that 2,000 new units are expected to be built every year until 2025.
