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7 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,O ctober 14,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca DoYou Need to JumpstartYour Wellness Goals? scan code for more info! Not available in stores! Give your body, your health habits and your goals a jumpstart with this easy 7 day cleanse kit. Retail Price $169.40 Preferred Customer Price $154.00 BONUS: Receive Wellness Coaching & Support, Recipes, Resources and more! Certified Lyric provider • www.auburnmountainhearing.com one name, 7 great locations! open evenings and saturdays by appointment AWARD WINNING CLINIC | Doctor of Audiology formerly Auburn & Mountain Hearing Centres So were we! Confused by our two names? Watch for our new name... (there's only one, we promise) • 550 Fennell Ave. E. Unit 16 B, Hamilton 289-768-6167 • 723 Rymal Rd.W. Unit 500, Hamilton 289-768-8971 • 570 University Ave. E. Unit 905,Waterloo 888-907-1436 • 350 Conestoga Blvd. Unit B3, Cambridge 888-737-9976 • 168 Barton St. Unit 3, Stoney Creek 289-203-3256 • 1144Wilson St.W. Unit D203,Ancaster 289-203-3195 • 370Winston Rd, Grimsby 289-206-5364 Relative to incomes, housing prices in Waterloo Region are comparable to some of the most expensive cities in the world, accord- ing to a sobering new re- port on affordable housing. The 60-page Vital Signs report from the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation paints a grim picture for the supply of af- fordable housing, both for homebuyers and renters, in a region that is growing at a breakneck pace. "It's quite phenomenal and mind-blowing, seeing how rapidly, particularly in the last five or six years, this decline in affordability has come," said lead author Steven Ayer. The local housing situa- tion is a crisis, Ayer said. "It went from being a rea- sonably affordable market to having a higher home- price-to-income ratio than San Diego or Greater Lon- don." The region is growing faster than any other large or medium-sized city in Canada or the United States, but the construc- tion of new homes hasn't kept pace: about 63,700 peo- ple moved here in the past five years, while about 20,300 new homes were built. Only about one-fifth of those were rentals. That galloping popula- tion growth is happening at the same time as home prices in the region are growing at an unprece- dented rate, Ayers noted. Housing prices in Canada are growing faster than al- most any other wealthy country, and prices are ris- ing faster in Kitchener-Wa- terloo than almost any- where else in Canada, he said. And incomes aren't keeping up. In 2005, a typi- cal home in Kitchener-Wa- terloo sold for $196,000, about three times higher than the average house- hold income of $60,000. By 2021, the average house sold for $749,000 -- almost nine times higher than the average income of $87,000. The picture is also bleak for renters in the region, the report says. In 2008, a bachelor apartment cost $489 a month. By 2020, it rented for $1,089. A three-bedroom apartment went from a rent of $998 to $2,026. Those skyrocketing rents have made it even harder to find an afford- able apartment. And cheaper units are disappearing -- razed for new construction, or reno- vated and rented out at higher rates. From 2011-16, Waterloo Region lost 6,000 units that were renting for less than $1,000 a month. Those realities -- gal- loping price increases for both buyers and renters and a shrinking supply of cheaper rentals -- hit some groups, such as young peo- ple working in the gig econ- omy, single parents, people of colour and new immi- grants, particularly hard. More than half of all renters in the region who had kids at home said they were facing financial diffi- culties. "There's a very substan- tial percentage of folks struggling to be able to make ends meet," Ayer said. "Many of them are, in the end, finding ways to do it, but it's not a pleasant or easy or ideal situation." HOUSING AFFORDABILITY A CRISIS IN REGION, NEW REPORT SAYS A framer works on the construction of a roof on a residential project on Linden Dr in Cambridge. David Bebee photo CATHERINE THOMPSON NEWS