Housing supply struggles to keep up with demand in northeastern Ontario cities

20-Sep-2025

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Despite an increase in housing starts, available stock continues to struggle to meet high demand in northeastern Ontario's largest cities.

In Sudbury, available housing inventory — the total number of residential properties for sale or rent at a given time — was at its lowest point ever in January, at under two months of it.

Months of inventory refers to how long it would take to sell all the homes on the market, assuming no new homes are added.

"Four months or less is considered a sellers' market," said Luc Bock, chair of the Sudbury Real Estate Board.

"Four to eight months would be considered more of a balanced market. And anything over eight months, which is what everyone in Canada would have had before COVID, is considered a buyers' market where you can low-ball and negotiate deals."

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Sudbury had 164 housing starts from January to July 2025, compared to 77 for the same period the previous year. That 113 per cent increase places the city among Canada's top five for new housing growth.

But Bock said despite that growth, housing starts are falling short of meeting high demand.

"To be honest, the biggest problem is trades," he said, referring to a shortage of skilled trades workers to build homes.

"So they probably wouldn't be able to double the production that they're doing right now."