Average home value in Windsor doubled in 5 years: Statistics Canada

New census data showthe cost of a home in Windsor has doubled infive years, raising concerns about affordability.

"Whenhousing prices double in a community andwhen you look at incomes and they're not doubling with housing prices, it's going to create challenges to get into the housing market for people across the region," said Frazier Fathers, a researcher, blogger and podcast host.

The average value of a home in 2016in the city of Windsor was $204,510, according to Statistics Canada, compared with$410,000 in 2021.

In that time, shelter costs for renters which includerent and basic utilities also shot up. Theaverage monthly expenditurefor Windsorrenters increased by $250 per month.

Lorraine Goddard,the chief executive officer of United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County, said that the availabilityof affordable housingisnot keeping pace with the need and more needs to be done.

"We see that very clearly withthe work United Way is doing in our priority neighbourhoods," she said. "There really needs to be more effort because this...is going to require the partnership between the federal, provincial and municipal governments."

Homeownership rate relatively stable

The rate of homeownershipin Windsor-Essex has declined slightly in the last decade, in line witha national trend, but rates are higher than the Canadian and Ontario figures.

Throughout Windsor-Essex, 72.5 per cent of people owned their homes in 2021, down from 73 per cent in 2016 and74.3 per cent in 2011.