Waterloo a top destination for millennials

Milliennials are on the move, and you might see a lot more of them in the City of Waterloo.

That's according to a report from Ryerson University, which shows that millennials are getting squeezed out of cities like Montreal and the GTA by rising house prices and moving to more affordable locations like Waterloo (which placed at sixth in the country).

As the generation comes of age, though, the demand for housing (both rental and purchasing) has hit harder than expected.

That's according to Diana Petramala, Senior Researcher for the Centre for Urban Research and Development at Ryerson University, who worked on the report.

“They're heading into their mid 20s to late 30s, and are likely still unleashing a lot of pent-up demand for housing,” Petramala explained on Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke on 570 NEWS.

“As much as the regions are building, it's not enough to meet that demand. Returning to a scenario where housing is affordable to everybody is unrealistic. I think, at best, what we could hope for is that we get enough supply so that housing prices stop rising at the pace they've been rising.”

Re/Max broker Steve Dawkins also joined Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke.

“It's so tight in this market for people just starting off,” said Dawkins. “The starter end of the market or even empty-nesting, which has a lot in common with it in terms of the requirements, there's almost nothing on the market that doesn't sell within a few days in those categories, so it's very discouraging for millenials.”

Dawkins says that people are moving out of city centres in waves. For example, someone who lives in Toronto's core may find Mississauga prices attractive, someone who lives in Mississauga may move to Milton for their housing prices, and someone who lives in Milton may seek housing in Waterloo Region for the same reason.

Just on Saturday, a lineup formed at a local housing development of people who wanted to buy property, some of whom camped out overnight.

“We're having a lot of people who end up moving into various parts of Waterloo Region,” said Dawkins. “Particularly Hespeler, Preston, East Galt, as well as Kitchener-Waterloo.”

He added that a higher amount of NIMBYism is contributing to the rising prices, and that younger people are facing the consequences of that.