This week: Faced with diminishing sales on their costly preconstruction projects, condo developers are asking banks to lower their financing thresholds. Plus, experts share their thoughts on how to style pot lights in your home.

With the new-home market in the dumps and individual investors largely gone, developers have been struggling to sell enough of their projects’ units to qualify for construction financing. The lack of purchases during the preconstruction phase has roiled homebuilders, forcing some into receivership and leading others to either postpone or cancel condo projects or turn them into rental-only apartments. It has also led to a decline in new homebuilding. Banks typically require developers to presell about 70 per cent of their buildings’ units before they will provide construction financing for the project to be built.

But as Rachelle Younglai writes, developers are asking the Big Five Canadian banks to consider lowering that threshold in order to ease construction requirements. Some are suggesting lowering the threshold anywhere between 30 to 50 per cent, but banking experts say the current model has been working well for the lenders. Read the full story here.

For many young Canadians, the traditional path to home ownership feels out of reach. While affordability pressures have forced some buyers out of major urban markets, the dream of ownership has not disappeared.

Instead, as Meera Raman writes, some prospective buyers are turning to recreational properties. Some young Canadians see cottages, known mainly as summer homes, as a more affordable gateway to home ownership. Many retirees are looking to sell their property or pass it on to their children, which could free up more cottage inventory that might, over time, improve affordability for younger buyers. And in the short term, an influx of listings has pushed many cottage markets into buyer’s markets.

For some buyers, the appeal lies in flexibility. Many live in their cottages full-time, while others rent them out for most of the year and continue living in the city. Those living in their recreational properties typically work remote jobs, brokers said. But some experts caution that recreational properties aren’t always the easy wealth-building strategy they appear to be. Read the full story here.

Rates shown are the lowest available for each term/type and category (insured vs. uninsured) as of market close on Thursday, May 28.

Shrinking families and tepid homebuilding is paving the way to a future where homes will increasingly be inherited assets in Canada, passed down from one generation to the next, marking a major shift away from family homes being bought and sold, writes Mike Moffatt.

Population growth and a shift toward building high-rise rental apartments are partly responsible for the downward shift in semi-detached home construction in recent years. A Canada where a growing number of semi- and detached homes are heirlooms is one of increased inequality. Those lucky enough to be born into the right family have access to an increasingly scarce type of housing. Those who weren’t so lucky will need to compete in the market to purchase one, driving prices up further.

None of this means that increasing density or building more apartments is inherently a bad idea; Canada desperately needs more housing of all types. But it risks creating a Canada where access to certain neighbourhoods and lifestyles depends increasingly on lineage rather than opportunity. Read Mr. Moffatt’s full column here.