Affordable housing is a key platform issue to Azim Rizvee, owner * at MinMaxx Realty, a firm he launched in Milton, Ont. in 2006. He is the Liberal candidate for Milton in the 2015 Canadian federal election.
Lack of infrastructure funding by the federal government has resulted in higher development charges by developers, which are passed on to homebuyers through higher home prices in cities like Milton, Rizvee says. “It’s an indirect form of taxation.”
Rizvee says to help curb rising home prices, major infrastructure commitments by the federal government are paramount.
He calls the current government’s move to drop interest rates “a political ploy. They have used that as a vehicle to provide breathing room or space to build the economy, which is in recession already.”
He says tightening mortgage insurance qualifications for first-time buyers while reducing amortization periods took a lot of potential buyers out of the market. That is not good for the economy, he says, adding that when home ownership levels are high, research shows it provides more value through social benefits to a community.
Rizvee says tax breaks proposed by the Liberals for the middle class are “core elements that will help boost the economy. It is the middle class that drives change.”
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Rizvee immigrated to Canada 15 years ago. His passion for real estate began more than 20 years ago when he first built a house in Lahore. “Building a dream home is the biggest asset anyone has,” he says.
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet is the incumbent NDP MP for Hochelaga, Quebec.
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, the incumbent NDP MP for Hochelaga, Que., is the official opposition housing critic and deputy critic for infrastructure, communities and disability issues. She says Canada is the only G7 country without a national housing strategy.
That would change under an NDP government, she says, noting that among the top priorities would be addressing the right-to-housing issue. The NDP platform for the 2015 Canadian federal election also looks at refocusing Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) to its original mandate with input from partnerships with the provinces, municipalities, the development industry and other stakeholders.
Sustainable construction would also be on the agenda. The CMHC “could definitely play a role,” she says. Energy efficiency is a case in point, because “it is an industry of the present, not an industry of the future.”
Housing affordability is a major issue in some cities, she says, but the NDP’s housing strategy would “have to be flexible enough” to deal with each region separately.
She says in Montreal and other cities the surge in condo construction has let rental construction fall behind. Condos that are sold for rental purposes are often not designed for families. “We need to build rental units that are large enough for families as well,” she says.
Prior to her role in the NDP, Boutin-Sweet was a guide at the Musée d’archéologie et d’histoire de Montréal, Pointe-à-Callière. She is the co-founder of her trade union at Pointe-à-Callière.
Laura-Leah Shaw is the Green Party candidate in Steveston Richmond East, B.C.
Green Party candidate Laura-Leah Shaw in Steveston Richmond East, B.C. says providing more affordable housing is a high priority of her party. Shaw is a sales rep with Re/Max Crest Realty Westside in Vancouver.
She says the Greens advocate the development of a national housing strategy through the Council of Canadian Governments. The plan would cover affordable housing – taking into account the homeless.
“As Realtors we sometimes see people living in what seems like ridiculous luxury compared to the people we pass on the street with nothing,” she says.
The Greens advocate a program called Housing First, which would provide the poor with housing followed by a network of social services to keep people from ending up back on the street.
Shaw says the party would eliminate the government’s Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program, which allows foreigners to purchase Canadian properties, because it is a big factor in the rising prices of homes.
A proponent of an immigration program based on merit rather than “how rich you are,” she says immigrants working in Canada pay taxes that can go towards infrastructure and other needs.
Not a big fan of lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy, Shaw says the economic solution is more complex. “We need better paying jobs (and we need to keep jobs here in Canada) and then people can afford to buy homes.”
Born and raised in Vancouver, Shaw has had a career in real estate in greater Vancouver for 26 years.
Gabriel Purcarus is the Conservative Party candidate in Alfred-Pellan, Quebec.
Gabriel Purcarus, the Conservative candidate in Alfred-Pellan, Que. is a broker at Adresz Realty. He says affordable housing is an important issue in the area near downtown Montreal, where sales have dropped by 30 per cent in the past three years, after a boom from 2004 to 2012.
One of the reasons prices have risen in parts of Canada is the influx of foreign buyers, he says. Among other things, he says a re-elected Conservative government would protect home buyers by offering CMHC-backed 30- to 35-year loans. He also cites plans to increase the allowable down payment from tax-free RSPs to $35,000 from the current $25,000, and maintaining the CMHC-backed low down payment program for Canadian residents only. A new tax credit for renovations of up to $5,000 annually should also be available to residents only, he says.
Purcarus says the government has and will continue to act responsibly with tight lending rules that discourage people with poor credit histories of securing real estate loans. That is why Canada has “a very low rate of foreclosures” compared to the U.S., he says.
While home prices have remained stable over the past year in the riding close to downtown Montreal where transactions have tailed off, Purcarus expects to see a slight improvement in the market next year.
He was born in Bucharest, Romania and immigrated to Canada in 1999. He has been a computer programmer and a journalist but in the past 11 years has made his living as a real estate broker. He has been with Adresz Realty since 2009.
- Note: This story has been changed from the original story. Azim Rizvee says, “I am currently the owner of the company as I stepped down as Broker of Record and CEO of MinMaxx Realty as part of my run to the election.” He also says where he uses the words “‘political ploy’ in one of the sentences related to lowering of interest rates, the words ‘political significance’ would be correct and appropriate.”
Don Procter is a contributing writer for REM.
