Collingwood and surrounding area is becoming a victim of its own success.
“In a successful community home prices incline,” said Mark Conway, President and Senior Partner at NBLC, a consultancy hired to create a business case for attainable housing in Southern Georgian Bay. “It creates a huge problem. People on a middle income are priced out even of a smaller house.”
The increase in housing prices and decrease in attainable housing is causing a workforce shortage across the region.
According to Zolo Realty (a real estate search site) average sale price for homes in Collingwood from March to May was $523,000. Stats from last summer indicate the average sale price for homes in The Blue Mountains was $726,000.
House prices have been increasing rapidly in the area over the last decade.
In response, Conway has been tasked with creating a business case for attainable housing strategies that would be shared across Simcoe and Grey Counties and several municipalities.
“Over the last five years there’s been an understanding we need to work collaboratively,” said Martin Rydlo, director of marketing and business development for the town of Collingwood. “The biggest employer in the area (Blue Mountain) is saying it has become an issue. That has spirited more focused work.”
Part of the focused work has been a taskforce of local stakeholders called the South Georgian Bay Labour Task Force. The force includes representation from Grey County, Simcoe County, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, The Blue Mountains, Meaford, RTO7, Four Counties Labour Board, Georgian College, Blue Mountain Village Association, and Blue Mountain Resort.
Blue Mountain Village Association president Andrew Siegwart gave a presentation to Collingwood Council in January to outline the shortages facing local businesses not just in tourism but in service, manufacturing and others. At that time he let council know the task force was going to hire a consultant to make a case for attainable housing. Conway and his company were secured a couple months ago at a cost of $70,000.
Conway spoke to a group of local business owners and the task force at Blue Mountain on Thursday.
“There’s nothing available in South Georgian Bay to allow a young person or someone entering the workforce to get into the [housing] market,” said Conway, adding it was important for Collingwood and the surrounding communities to have a diverse market.
Without an entry-level price point in the local housing market, there are several negative impacts to the community, according to Conway.
“It’s harder for young people to live there,” he said. “If they find shelter, it is usually of lower quality and there are health impacts.”
“From an economic perspective it’s harder and harder to find workers. Businesses fail and tax dollars stop flowing.”
The purpose of Conway’s report – due out this June – will be to outline some attainable housing strategies he believes would be successful in the area.
He said there will have to be multiple strategies and he is still narrowing them down from a large list with the feedback of stakeholders.
Some examples include a municipality getting involved in building housing as a non-profit venture. The Whistler Housing Authority functions this way.
A housing coop would see reduced home ownership costs in favour of some sweat equity by residents who would own a share in the building.
Rydlo said there may also be options for public and private partnerships.
According to the South Georgian Bay Association of Realtors the value of residential transactions in the area in December 2014 was $49.8 million (up 48.6 per cent from December 2013). In December 2015, residential home sales totalled $59.6 million for the month. That number dropped a little for 2016 to $54.4 million for the month of December. Overall, there were 3,157 residential properties sold in 2014, 3,744 in 2015 and 3,333 in 2017.
Elizabeth Cornish, communications and economic development officer for The Blue Mountains said there is a general workforce shortage across the country, and that makes it important for communities to compete. She said there will have to be good quality homes available in an attainable price range if the community is to attract a solid labour force.
“It’s about providing quality shelter to those who are probably the foundation of your community,” said Conway.
Once the report is finalized, it will be up to the municipal reps on the task force to deliver the findings and recommendations to their council and the public to organize next steps or potential partnerships.
