White Homeowners With Inherited Wealth Gutted By Housing Crisis
By Erin Wotherspoon
Toronto - With Mount Pleasant home prices falling more than 14% this past quarter, residents fear the worst—housing security, air conditioning, Pelotons. “I’m having trouble focusing during my on-demand indoor cycling class,” said Mount Pleasant resident Sherry Walker.
Given that Sherry and her family are not planning to sell their home anytime soon, the current dip in valuation has literally no effect on their day to day lives. “Our mortgage is also locked in. So our rates won’t go up either. But still, it’s devastating.” Sherry thinks they should petition. But to whom, remains unclear.
Like so many residents in her affluent community, Sherry has been relegated to her cecil cream sofa with every imaginable streaming service at her fingertips while literally just a number on a piece of paper decreases.
Many residents have turned to their financial advisors for support in these harrowing times and have been met with grim projections. “Portfolio performances are down this quarter,” said neighbour Adam Clarke, a fund manager at Wealth Stone Investment Services. “For us, it was just my corporation that took the hit. Well one of my corporations.” We were unable to confirm just how many corporations Adam has and whether or not they will be okay.
“We’re house poor,” said new Mount Pleasant resident, Garrett Fields, while loading a gaggle of toddlers into amatte black G-wagon. “People like us are getting hit hardest. We bought our home in the last two years when the market was red hot.” Garrett explains that he and his growing family overpaid for their newly renovated Tudor mansion. They were desperate.
Lucy Brown, lead organizer at Moms of Midtown, a grassroots group formed during the pandemic to shut down emergency shelters opened in their community, gets emotional when she speaks of her parents’ death. “After they died, we got boatloads of money. It was our down payment. And now what!? That money is figuratively gone.”
We wish this ailing community all the best as they navigate financial ruin and speed-reduced cobblestone streets.
Erin Wotherspoon is a contributing author at The Toronto Harold. Follow her social work and random musings on Instagram @rine_wotherspoon