Rising costs in the US housing market are being driven by a combination of trade policy and geopolitical instability, complicating efforts to make homes more affordable.
Levies on Canadian softwood lumber and other essential construction materials have increased the expense of building new properties, exacerbating an existing shortage of housing stock.
These supply-side pressures are intensifying as the ongoing military conflict between the United States and Iran adds further uncertainty to the economic outlook.
The contradiction between policy goals and market outcomes is becoming more pronounced.
While political rhetoric emphasizes the need to lower home prices, the implementation of tariffs on key inputs is having the opposite effect.
The Globe and Mail reports that these trade measures are continually making the goal of affordability harder to achieve, as builders pass higher material costs onto consumers.