Integrating climatic mitigation and adaptation measures into a national housing strategy could improve neighbourhood liveability and housing affordability through to 2027

RE/MAX Canada releases chapter two on climate, as part of its Unlocking the Future: 5-Year Housing Outlook, in partnership with Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and Smart Prosperity Institute

TORONTO and KELOWNA, BC, July 5, 2022 /CNW/ -- Today, RE/MAX Canada launches chapter two – the climate chapter - of Unlocking the Future: 5 Year Outlook. A series of reports in collaboration with relevant area experts to be issued throughout the year leveraging specific "what if" scenarios related to economic policy decisions, climate change and the future of work.

The impact on current and future homeowners, as it relates to climate, is already being felt through displacement due to catastrophic events, higher insurance premiums and compromised liveability. The estimated trend of the overall costs of catastrophic losses has increased from approximately $1 billion in 2005 to almost $2.5 billion in 2021 and continues to be on an upward trajectory. With that, RE/MAX Canada collaborated with Kathryn Bakos, Director of Climate Finance and Science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and Dr. Mike Moffatt, Senior Director of Policy and Innovation at Smart Prosperity Institute, to examine climate scenarios such as floods, wildfires and severe storm events and their impact on the housing market. Chapter two concludes that both climate mitigation and adaptation measures are integral to improving housing affordability, as well as liveability and should be integrated into a national housing strategy over the next five years.

Christopher Alexander, President at RE/MAX Canada, says, "these climatic stresses are increasingly colliding with federal and provincial government housing policies, which aim to significantly increase the country's housing supply to rectify the chronic lack of inventory. Yet, the need to restore and retain green infrastructure - such as wetlands - and the immediate need to upgrade our hard infrastructure, particularly sewage systems, coupled with a decline in developable areas due to extreme weather could make these goals difficult to achieve unless these factors are all integrated as one program. In the meantime, giving guidance to homeowners on how to take advantage of programs that already exist, such as the Climate Adaptation Home Rating program, in combination with things such as energy assessment is important to share throughout the home-buying journey."

"The reality is many home buyers and sellers, do not have a fulsome understanding or awareness of a property's climatic risk," says Elton Ash, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX Canada. "Transparency in the home buying and selling process, including disclosure of how key climatic factors influence a home and community is an important step towards protecting Canadians in their home buying journeys now and in the future."

This report, as well as the ones that follow, is intended as a resource to help Canadians take a longer-term view of their investments, by taking into consideration possible hypothetical outcomes based on historical learnings and current and near-future market conditions. The intention of this report is to encourage Canadians to step into this 'idea sandbox,' keeping in mind that RE/MAX and its collaborators are not trying to predict the future, rather, just model different versions of it for the collective benefit of Canadians.

Key takeaways:

• Mitigation and adaptation must both be integrated into national housing strategies.
• The immediate need to fund and invest in the restoration and modernization of Canada's green infrastructure, such as wetlands, grasslands and brown infrastructure, including sewage systems, among other initiatives, must become a priority for all levels of government.
• To protect real estate from the disruption of climate change, new levels of transparency in buying and selling homes should be considered by key stakeholders specifically as it relates to the property's climatic risk.

According to a Leger survey commissioned by RE/MAX Canada as part of the report:

• 61 per cent of Canadians believe real estate is the best long-term investment they can make. Canadians do not see this changing over the next five years. However, when looking ahead to their future in 2027, 57 per cent of Canadians say that a key factor that will impact their housing location is climate change and the potential of weather-related events.
• A quarter of Canadians (25 per cent) worry that climate change will impact their home/neighbourhood and their home-buying journey over the next five years.
• 49 per cent of Canadians are worried about the impact that forest fires, flooding and other weather-related events will have on their neighbourhood and community over the next five years.

To download Chapter 1, visit: http://download.remax.ca/PR/REMAXUnlockingTheFuture_Chapter1.pdf

To download Chapter 2, visit: http://download.remax.ca/PR/REMAXUnlockingTheFuture_CH2_JULY5.pdf

About the 2022 Unlocking the Future Report:
The 2022 RE/MAX Unlocking the Future Report includes insights from RE/MAX Canada partners Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and Innovation at Smart Prosperity Institute and is purely hypothetical. Insights were supplemented with research from a Leger consumer survey (details below).

About Leger
Leger is the largest Canadian-owned full-service market research firm. An online survey of 1,633 Canadians was completed between March 4-6 using Leger's online panel. Leger's online panel has approximately 400,000 members nationally and has a retention rate of 90 per cent. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.43 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

About the RE/MAX Network
As one of the leading global real estate franchisors, RE/MAX, LLC is a subsidiary of RE/MAX Holdings (NYSE: RMAX) with more than 140,000 agents in almost 9,000 offices with a presence in more than 110 countries and territories. RE/MAX Canada refers to RE/MAX of Western Canada (1998), LLC and RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, Inc., and RE/MAX Promotions, Inc., each of which are affiliates of RE/MAX, LLC. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX, as measured by residential transaction sides.

RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. RE/MAX agents have lived, worked and served in their local communities for decades, raising millions of dollars every year for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals® and other charities. To learn more about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit remax.ca. For the latest news from RE/MAX Canada, please visit blog.remax.ca.

Forward looking statements
This report includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "intend," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "outlook," "project," and other similar words and expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding housing market conditions and the Company's results of operations, performance and growth. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include (1) the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted the Company and continues to pose significant and widespread risks to the Company's business, the Company's ability to successfully close the anticipated reacquisition and to integrate the reacquired regions into its business, (3) changes in the real estate market or interest rates and availability of financing, (4) changes in business and economic activity in general, (5) the Company's ability to attract and retain quality franchisees, (6) the Company's franchisees' ability to recruit and retain real estate agents and mortgage loan originators, (7) changes in laws and regulations, (8) the Company's ability to enhance, market, and protect the RE/MAX and Motto Mortgage brands, (9) the Company's ability to implement its technology initiatives, and (10) fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, and those risks and uncertainties described in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and similar disclosures in subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC, which are available on the investor relations page of the Company's website at www.remax.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update this information to reflect future events or circumstances.

SOURCE RE/MAX Canada

For more information please contact: Danielle Scott, [email protected], 416-909-5185; Lydia McNutt, [email protected], 905-301-5980