Housing in Cobourg

There is a shortage of Rental accommodation in Cobourg as shown by the apartment vacancy rate of 1.3%.   But the alternative of owning is not cheap –  house prices are starting to increase again after a peak last May.  There’s action for renters; because of the tight rental market, Cobourg will be eligible for a Provincial program which pays for a rebate of development charges to builders of rental units.  Port Hope is also eligible so they are joining with Cobourg to ask the County to administer the program for them since the County has the regional mandate for social services including housing. More details on Cobourg’s rental vacancy rates and costs were given in this post last December.

cmhc logoAs of October 2017, CMHC reports that tenants were 30% of total residential in Cobourg which means that 70% owned their own home.  With house prices rising fast, that’s not an option for everyone.

The latest statistics from the Northumberland Hills Association of Realtors show that although sales have slowed, prices in West Northumberland are now increasing again – houses sold at an average of $435,409 in January 2018 – up 17.3% from a year earlier.  Prices peaked at $488,000 in May 2017 but the trend is now up once more.

Prices in Toronto (GTA) averaged $736,783 in January and although that’s little changed from December, the price trends are similar to Cobourg.  See the graph below.

Residential selling prices
Residential selling prices

 

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Note: Northumberland Hills is primarily Cobourg and Port Hope but includes some realtors in adjacent areas.

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Arthur Seymour
6 years ago

If “Ben” is correct with respect to Cobourg’s municipally owned land that could be used for public housing , then we should all get behind an effort say “shame” on our elected officials if they can stand by and let so many poor families wait for years for decent rental housing !!! Surely with all the great things about Cobourg that our Council wishes us to portray , affordable housing NOW, should also be one of them. It should be a main election issue. Only vote for those who commit publicly say YES to getting on with it and help so many less fortunate families “get a life”.

ben
6 years ago

Public housing can be done very cheaply but municipalities do not want to be seen in conflict with their election donors (if you don’t believe this check the last election financial returns) – local developers.

In Cobourg we have acres of land, in the Northam Industrial land that could be developed by a municipal housing authority. Eliminate the cost of land and housing costs will drop by 30%, eliminate the cost of municipal fees and that will reduce the gross cost by 10% eliminate the profit motive and save a heckuva lot more. What do we have now – quality housing and very affordable, and not a penny of public money involved

Pity nobody on any Council in Northumberland is farsighted and courageous enough to tackle local shibboleths and developers in the so-called ‘free market economy’.

But we can live in hope!

cornbread
6 years ago

Another additional Provincial social program…equals…higher annual deficit & more total debt for the province. When will it end?

Deborah OConnor
Reply to  cornbread
6 years ago

“Another additional Provincial social program”. Sure, a social program for DEVELOPERS! It appears the Province believes in the infamous “trickle down” theory of housing. With a waiting list that hit 171,360 in 2015 for Ontario, this little boost to the development industry won’t do much to provide real affordable housing to very many of them. Even in Northumberland County we have upwards of nearly 500 families waiting for many years to get their chance at decent housing that allows them to buy groceries too.

Surely we can do better!

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Deborah OConnor
6 years ago

There will always be the selfish, self-centred misers who poo-poo everything. I’d love to see secure affordable housing, especially for families, for the children. I lived in Alexandra Park Housing Co-op for 27 years. It was a wonderfully diverse working class co-op that occupied two blocks in downtown Toronto. It’s not the only solution, but housing co-ops could address some of the homeless issues. Those in a co-op have a stake in the co-op, unlike rental housing. We have a commonwealth in which I have paid taxes and I encourage a portion of those taxes be spent on affordable housing. 500 homeless families is a disgrace for such a prosperous society as we live in here.

6 years ago

Yet I have noticed that the asking prices have been decreasing over the past six months or so in both Cobourg and Toronto/GTA. What gives? I am reluctant to believe the info put out by any realtor association these days. I may be wrong, but I wonder if any of this is self serving and an attempt to cause more of a frenzy in the real estate market. Just my opinion. .