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

New census data show the cost of a home in Windsor has doubled in five years, raising concerns about affordability. 

"When housing prices double in a community and when 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 2016 in 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 include rent and basic utilities — also shot up. The average monthly expenditure for Windsor renters increased by $250 per month. 

Lorraine Goddard, the chief executive officer of United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County, said that the availability of affordable housing is not keeping pace with the need — and more needs to be done.

"We see that very clearly with the 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 homeownership in Windsor-Essex has declined slightly in the last decade, in line with a 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 and 74.3 per cent in 2011.