Economic activity expected to spur home starts in St. Thomas region
The London, Ont. and St. Thomas, Ont. home building industry is looking at better times ahead.
While affordability challenges remain, stabilizing interest rates and new economic opportunities are expected to help turn things around.
“Yeah we’ve seen a slow down in starts, we’ve seen a slowdown in clients coming and asking,” said Robert Adzija, a representative for John Roberts Signature Homes. “It’s nice that the last two or three weeks we’ve seen a little more interest.”
Adzija could be found at the St. Thomas Home Show Sunday, trying to generate interest in custom build homes as the spring and summer construction season approaches.
London couple Alex and Linda Nedeljkovic took in the home show, being held at the Joe Thornton Community Centre.
They say they’re thinking about having a home built, but they’re not about to rush in to anything.
“Actually a few months now, kinda just been looking on the market and seeing what’s available and kind of pricing out homes, and seeing what’s out there,” said Linda.
“What would have been a manageable mortgage is now substantial, so you’re going to have to weigh out your options of pricing,” added Alex.
Jared Zaifman, the CEO of the London Home Builders Association, told CTV News a perfect storm of factors caused a major slowdown in the sale of new builds, including rising interest rates.
“Interest rates really, the continuous hikes had a really big impact on the industry for a long time,” he explained. “And that is the biggest thing that we’ve been sharing with our federal partners in Ottawa. And honestly, glad to see interest rates starting to stabilize.”
Just as rising interest rates and a number of other factors caused a slowdown in the home building industry, economic activity on the horizon in this region is expected to get the machines humming once again, and the shovels in the ground.
Chief among that economic activity is the Volkswagon EV battery plant being built in St. Thomas, and expected to come on stream in 2027.
St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston said the thousands of builders and contractors working to build the plant will need somewhere to live.
“We need a lot more than just single family homes,” said Preston. “There will be markets, there isn’t an empty one sitting around, people are buying those too. But we need market-rent apartments, high density, a number of rental apartments in St. Thomas, and these builders have to help us with that too.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.