Like Toronto and Van, NYC is an expensive place to live.
But many New Yorkers just voted to fix that.
The average selling price for a home across the five boroughs is currently $868,000 US in this city of almost nine million people. That equals $1.19 million Canadian. The average in Toronto these days is $1.12 million. In Vancouver it’s $1.17 million. So, there’s a ‘housing crisis’ in all three cities.
But New York City has more renters. Of the 3.7 million housing units there, 2.4 million, or about 62%, are rentals. In Toronto, 48% of residents are tenants. In Van, it’s only 38%.
One big difference is the power of the city. In New York it’s local politicians who have a direct impact on rents, for example. In Canada real estate is a provincial concern. Besides, the population of the Big Apple is about the same as the entire province of Quebec, or New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta – combined. The mayor matters.
The election of Zohran Mamdani as Democratic contender in the upcoming NYC mayoralty race is a big deal. For many reasons. First, he creamed the former state governor and high-profile dude, Andrew Cuomo. Second, the young (33) state politician used social media (especially TikTok) to sweep to victory. Third, Trump calls him a ‘lunatic communist’ which pretty much solidifies his popularity. And, fourth, he also scares the crap out of fellow Democratics since he openly identifies as a socialist. Plus, he’s Muslim, which is a first.
Now, what about housing?
It was a giant part of Mamdani’s platform and underscores his interventionist approach to governing. If life is too expensive for average people, he says, then elected folks have an obligation to make it cheaper. Like having the city run its own discount grocery stores, he says. Plus free day care for all the rugrats under five.
When it comes to accommodation he’s pledged (if elected) to freeze the rents of 2.4 million families who are tenants. The state assemblymen now jumping into municipal politics would also build 200,000 new publicly-subsidized affordable homes. As a result of these promises he was able to mobilize the enthusiastic support of younger voters, crushing the Establishment political machine.
Source: Fox Business News
The pushback has been immediate and loud. Landlords and developers argue a freeze won’t make apartments more affordable or plentiful and will actually carve into the number of units available. Already thousands of homes under existing rent controls are sitting empty because owners can’t afford to make costly repairs or preventative maintenance without more cash flow. If rents can’t pace inflation or the cost of those repairs, the situation will worsen.
As for building those new units, the cost would be $100 billion, says Mamdani. To pay for that, the city would impose higher taxes on the wealthy (unlike in Canada, local income taxes are possible).
Well, Mamdani has caused a lot of people to have a cow. Dems across America are worried a new breed like him could move their party farther to the left at a time when MAGA has dragged tens of millions of voters far to the right. This deepening polarization could keep the better-organized Republicans in power longer, they fear. And while the young may be comfortable with more government control of their lives, the mainstream is not.
But this is reality. If the pendulum swings back from Turmp in the next couple of years, it could overshoot the middle, making Mamdani the mayor of the greatest city in America, and a new national political star – with his heretical ideas about saving the common person from Jeff, Mark, Elon and Don.
Could the same happen here?
Of course. Toronto’s lefty mayor (Olivia Chow) is already busy building state-owned housing units. Vancouver’s doing the same. The feds and provinces are throwing more money at housing than ever before in Canadian history. And yet the market is a swamp. New-home construction is grinding to a virtual stop. Unsold inventory is stacking up. Most importantly, prices have remained too high for affordability to improve. Average families cannot afford average homes in the average city.
A maple-flavoured Zohran? One more thing to vex over.
About the picture: “Thanks a million for sharing a daily dose of financial wisdom – always delivered in your clear and humourous style!” writes Mark, from Vancouver Island. “Here’s our old friend Max, now long gone but not forgotten. Max loved canoes!”
To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘garth@garth.ca’.