LACKIE: Time for leaders to take action on Toronto's real estate market crisis - Toronto Sun | Canada News Media
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LACKIE: Time for leaders to take action on Toronto's real estate market crisis – Toronto Sun

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You know how sometimes if you talk about something enough it will start to lose all meaning? It’s like the words give way to sounds that barely even register.

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The noise around Toronto’s housing shortage comes to mind. We have been screeching about our unbalanced real estate marketplace for so long that now that we’re truly in the thick of it, there’s not much left to say that could even begin to capture the truly untenable state of things.

And I am certainly guilty of this myself.

Since the pandemic kicked the real estate market into a gear never before seen, it’s been impossible not to comment as we have witnessed the ripple effects of low supply (hello, endless rounds of lockdowns) meeting high demand (hello, those endless lockdowns driving people to reconsider their living situations). The prices simply followed.

It was an incredible thing to witness, discovering that Toronto’s real estate market could barrel through a global pandemic, emerging unscathed, and, in fact, spread its fire in concentric circles around it. I was gobsmacked.

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But two years in, rather than slowing down and stabilizing, that momentum has only increased.

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For instance, as we closed the door on 2020, I remember writing about how incredible it was that across the entire Toronto Regional Real Estate Board there were all of 8,000 properties available on the open market for sale. At the time that number felt shockingly low. Whoa, I thought, that can’t be good.

Well, one year later, as we prepared to ring in 2022, would it surprise you to learn the available inventory had fallen by another 60%? We welcomed the new year with all of 3,323 properties for sale.

To describe that as chronically insufficient does not even begin to capture it.

But would you be surprised to also learn that 2021 was a record-breaking year for Toronto real estate? It was the most sales we have ever had in one year.

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So, when we speak of an inventory crisis we aren’t saying that there are no properties to buy — though our active listings are way down year-over-year — we are mostly pointing to the fact that this market now moves so quickly that any available inventory is swallowed up almost immediately.

The structural aspects of our real estate market have become completely untethered from the market forces that used to drive it.

And yes, the confluence of events that got us here is complex and nuanced, but it should have been increasingly apparent to anyone willing to look for years now. With low interest rates and speculation driving demand, to decades of vastly insufficient housing starts thanks to bureaucratic red tape, restrictive zoning, and NIMBYism, the idea that things will simply self-correct from here seems like magical thinking.

This is a crisis. It’s time our leaders started treating it like one.

@brynnlackie

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Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

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HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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