Free Republic

Mass migration has quickly spiked Canadians’ housing prices and rapidly reduced the share of Canadians who can own homes, admits the pro-migration New York Times. “Basically southern Ontario has become unaffordable” amid a massive inflow of immigrants, real-estate agent Bryan Adlam told the newspaper for an October 8 article, and added: “I have two clients I have right now whose budget is $500,000 to $600,000, which is not chump change,” he said. “Are they going to be renters for life? Probably. Has owning a home become unattainable for someone on the lower income echelon? I would say, yes.”

Ahead of Mother's Day, more and more millennials are gifting their mom the most precious thing of all: quality time with their offspring. An analysis from real estate and rental marketplace Zillow released Thursday found more people ages 24-34 in the United States are living at home with mom than at any time in the past decade. Twenty-one percent of the age bracket lives at home with their mother, Zillow found. In 2005 that figure was just 13 percent. Rents have continued to rise, but income growth for young people has not kept pace. Zillow found that over the past...

A day after the Senate passed its version of a sweeping financial overhaul bill, the banking industry fired a warning shot at Washington -- and anyone looking to buy a house -- that rules restricting banks' use of derivatives may crimp an already vulnerable housing recovery. Strongly hinting that average Joes could become collateral damage as a result of Congress' hard-line approach to regulating banks, Wall Street warned that the cost of home ownership could surge as a result of rules that prevent banks from using a form of derivatives called swaps, which help banks hedge against interest-rate risk and...

One day, the spacious house in Leesburg had a stainless-steel side-by-side refrigerator. The next day, it did not. The $1,150 appliance vanished from the $900,000 home that was under construction...leaving behind a trail of scratch marks on the hardwood floor... At construction sites, where theft of power tools and building materials has been common, some burglars also are making off with bulky appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers and air conditioners. In the past few years, millions of dollars worth of appliances has vanished from new and renovated houses and condos in the Washington area, law enforcement...

Evangelical Left All Shook Up About Affordable Housing Book Review: Making Housing Happen: Faith-Based Affordable Housing Models By Jill Suzanne Shook, editor and co-author Chalice Press, 2006 $34.99 Through her new book, Jill Shook, a housing activist in Pasadena, California, has become the de facto spokesperson of the Evangelical Left's new social movement to combat the so-called "affordable housing crisis", mostly focused on the U.S situation. The book jacket contains endorsements by many leaders of the Evangelical Left - Tony Campolo, Ronald J. Sider, and oddly has a preface by Dr. John Perkins, who doesn't fit the label. Given that...

Pupil Rolls Drop At Schools Officials fault rise in housing pricesWHITTIER - The surge in Southland housing prices has been cited as an important factor in an exodus of families from the Whittier area, causing a steep decline in K-12 enrollment in almost all local school districts. The loss of students translates into big money, with the South Whittier School District losing more than a half million dollars in revenue during 2005-06 school year 2005-06 because of a 12 percent enrollment drop. District officials project a loss of at least $1 million for 2006-07, said David Morton, the district's chief...

Census: Americans Are Fleeing Big Cities By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 20, 12:15 AM ET WASHINGTON - Americans are leaving the nation's big cities in search of cheaper homes and open spaces farther out. Nearly every large metropolitan area had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004, with a few exceptions in the South and Southwest, according to a report being released Thursday by the Census Bureau. Northeasterners are moving South and West. West Coast residents are moving inland. Midwesterners are chasing better job markets. And just about everywhere, people are escaping to...

Fort Lauderdale's status as a city of the rich received official confirmation Friday from the federal government. The Census Bureau ranked Fort Lauderdale fifth in the nation in percentage of homes worth $1 million or more -- news that won't shock anyone who has seen the Rolls-Royces cruising Las Olas Boulevard or the mansions rising in Victoria Park. The city had 765 homes worth at least $1 million, 3.3 percent of the total homes in Fort Lauderdale, according to information from the 2000 census. Ranked first is Cambridge, Mass., with 11.6 percent of total homes worth at least $1 million....