VIDEO | Home ownership program to review in Quebec?

This sounds like a great success, but a problem arises.

Look at the curve.

The annual number of properties funded by the Family Access program climbed to 167 in 2020, but fell to just 64 this year.

The city councilor responsible for the program announced what she sees as the reasons for this fall to Noovo Info. “In the last few years, there has been a reduction in housing starts, and therefore a reduction in the supply of houses, and houses are often higher than $370,000,” said Marie-Pierre Boucher, municipal councilor responsible for housing files in Quebec, in an interview with Noovo Information.

To relaunch the program, Quebec City is going to change the terms and conditions and it will be big. The maximum property price threshold in the program is $370,000; We have to see if we have to build it, Marie-Pierre Boucher tells us.

“We are also going to open up existing buildings,” she said; this would also generate more revenue from welcome fees.

Ms. Boucher did not want to tell Noovo Info by how much the eligible value ceiling will be increased.

The changes to the Family Access program in the winter of 2024-2025 will be approved by the town council so that they will be in effect next summer.

Real estate broker’s answer

Real estate broker Gabriel Pomerleau knows the Accès Famille program very well, which he talks about a lot. It recommends an increase in the maximum allowable value. “This is relevant because the value of the land is increasing significantly, while the cost of construction is also increasing,” he told Noovo Info. “The same property that we sold for example for $300,000 four years ago, building that today with the cost of land and the cost of construction, it will sell for about $495,000.” “

However, Mr. Pomerleau is far from convinced that it would be a good idea to include the existing houses in the Accès-famille program.

“Home values ​​will explode,” warns a real estate broker, who fears people will buy properties that need work when they didn’t have the down payment to buy without the program. .

Noovo Info submitted the complaint of the broker Gabriel Pomerleau to the administration of the Mayor of Quebec City, Bruno Marchand. “Everything is still being considered,” the mayor’s office responded in writing. “It is too early to establish the conditions, but the teams are thinking about all the angles. “