By Amy Van Wyk/Special to The Star
鈥淧eople are being pushed further into the valley.鈥�
These are the words of one of Aldergrove鈥檚 newest real estate agents, Kevin Singh Gill, who moved to what he called a 鈥渟leepy hollow鈥� last year for its main attraction, affordability.
Ironically, he said housing market in Aldergrove has seen a spike during the past three years, Gill said.
People living in single-family homes in Surrey and North Delta find it hard to make ends meet in the Greater Vancouver area, and are now pushed to look for affordable housing in Aldergrove and beyond.
This trend sets the demand for housing higher, and as a result, affects the rising cost in local housing, he said.
This pressure is seeing more and more houses now occupied by multiple families, and multi-generational occupants in order to mitigate the effects of increased housing costs.
According to Gill, supply is the issue.
鈥淲e were expecting a lot of people to sell their homes, and not many people would buy homes given the interest rate. Because many people are not able to move or trade their current home for bigger and better homes, they are staying put in their current homes,鈥� he said.
Many builders are also said to hold off on building new homes because of inflation, and the cost of building a new home has been increasing.
鈥淭o build a home now will cost you more than $200 per square foot, compared to $110 per square foot in 2019.鈥� By this reasoning, the same builder who was able to build two houses, can only afford to build one, said Gill.
In response to the soaring interest rates, and mortgages, Gill said there are several outcomes being seen in the housing market at present.
New homeowners who bought their homes about three years ago are feeling stressed out under the pressure of increased interest rates.
鈥淓ven though many homeowners opted for a fixed mortgage payment, many chose adjustable rates to keep their mortgage payments low from the get-go, and are now regretting it,鈥� Gill explained.
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Other trends that can be seen is that homeowners are building secondary suites in their basements to help with mortgage payments.
He further remarked that the increase in rent is not only a result of increased mortgage rates, but homeowners are purportedly passing the cost of the mortgage payments onto their tenants, making the market even more expensive.
Moreover, potential home buyers are now increasingly holding off on buying and choosing to rent instead, which he said is contributing to the already saturated rental market.
Gill believes there is a way out.
鈥淚 believe that the demand for housing is going to [increase] because of immigration, and migration from other provinces. If federal, provincial, and municipal government bodies provide favourable conditions to developers and builders, then we will see a lot of development in housing,鈥� suggested the relative newcomer to real estate in Aldergrove, who has seen significant changes in just his short time in the market.
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