Toronto housing market downturn to be short-lived, federal housing agency says
TORONTO — The recent downturn in Toronto’s real estate market, brought on after Ontario introduced measures this spring including a foreign buyers’ tax, is expected to be brief, the federal housing agency said Wednesday.
Property prices in the city — which fell from an average of $919,589 in April to $793,915 last month, according to data from the Toronto Real Estate Board — should pick up again due to supply constraints and a stronger economy, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said.
“The response we’re seeing in the Toronto market seems almost emotional and a knee-jerk reaction to some of the changes, which suggests that these impacts will be short-lived,” Dana Senagama, CMHC’s principal market analyst for Toronto, said during a conference call to discuss the agency’s latest housing market assessment.
The provincial government’s measures, which were retroactive to April 21, include a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region, expanded rent controls and legislation allowing Toronto and other cities to tax vacant homes.