The
Previously a managing director at
His term was extended in 2018, but last January he announced he was looking to depart the agency and the search for his replacement began.
Bowers is set to begin her five-year term as CEO on
She takes on the role as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its spread in
"I am excited to work closely with my colleagues across the corporation to help us continue to pursue our housing affordability aspiration," she said in a statement.
"I look forward to the new challenges and opportunities for learning and growth that lie ahead for me and I know I can count on the support of everyone at
Bowers joined
She initially served as
Bowers and Siddall declined interview requests on Tuesday, but Siddall praised his successor in a statement.
"Romy is an outstanding choice to succeed me as CEO and I wish her great success," he said.
"I've often said that this has been the best job I've ever had and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help transform
Choosing someone internally, he said, means Bowers knows what she's getting into and can get to work right away.
However, he warned, "It's a tough time to be coming into (the position), very challenging."
Because housing demand is outpacing supply in several markets and prices are soaring, he expects Bowers to continue to focus on affordability like her predecessor.
"
He suggested
Bowers may also have to rebuild some trust and relationships within the industry, after Siddall spent recent months forecasting the fall of housing prices and the rise of mortgage arrears.
Neither materialized and on Monday, Siddall acknowledged his faults in a series of tweets.
“We never pretended to have (a) crystal ball. Nor are we all-knowing on housing," he wrote.
"We meant to contribute to a discourse, even though it was hard to be precise about (the) future. In hindsight, we could have made that clearer."
Earlier in his tenure, he generated criticism from realtors and their associations when he urged the industry to "call out the glorification of home ownership for the regressive canard that it is."
Realtors were quick to push back and shared surveys that proved the majority of millennials or future homebuyers were keen to own homes.
"I never thought that it was very healthy to try and pit one group against the other," said Bourque.
"It's a lot more productive if we can work together towards our common goals going forward than it is to waste energy pointing fingers at one another."
This report by
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