Toronto and Vancouver housing markets closed out the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic with record sales and record-high home prices, per The Globe and Mail.
As the race to buy properties accelerated in the country’s two most expensive cities, real estate franchiser Royal LePage expects house prices across Canada to increase by 10.5% in 2022. Toronto and Vancouver’s real estate boards also reported:
- Toronto area houses sold for an average $1.1 million in 2021, up ~18% from 2020.
- Vancouver’s benchmark price saw a similar increase of 17% to $1.2 million from 2020.
What’s driving it: A lack of inventory on the marketplace explains the recent rise in housing costs across Canada
- Toronto has ~3,200 homes left on the market (50% less than last year), while Vancouver has ~5,200, the lowest numbers seen in decades.
Why it matters: The numbers add urgency to a growing debate about how to address the cost of housing at a time when 36% of Canadians under 40 years old have given up on ever owning a home.
Local authorities from both cities are in the hot seat, tasked with figuring out how to cool down their housing markets after measures including a foreign buyer tax have had little effect. A recent report by Generation Squeeze suggests Canada should charge an annual surtax on houses valued over $1 million.
