Toronto residents should face their housing crisis

The British Columbia Premier Christy Clarks housing decision reversal came as a surprise for many as she had blatantly refused to take any step in addressing the housing situation going on in Vancouver. During most of 2015 running through half of 2016 when home prices in Vancouver were very hot, Clark made no effort to intervene in the real estate market.

Instead she suggested that bringing in measures to cool down home price s will affect the value of people’s property. She also went on to emphasized that foreing buyers had no influence on home prices.

In addition, there was the fact that the province’s treasury was gaining form the high home prices which made the government to be less concerned about the situation.

However, months before the provincial elections, it dawned on the government that rising home prices affecting people will hinder their re-election, hence Clark and her cabinet made a change of plans by introducing a 15% tax on foreign buyers in Vancouver which actually helped in bringing down the high prices in Vancouver in the fourth quarter.

But sadly enough, the intervention of the government came at a point when the harm has already been done on many.

One would have thought that the housing crisis in Vancouver might serve as a lesson for other markets but it seems the Greater Toronto market is not bothered at all.

Toronto is fast becoming a reflection of what occurred in Vancouver but the difference is that residents in Toronto are not at all bothered unlike Vancouver residents who were outraged. Moreover, some real estate industries in the city are denying the fact that Toronto is in a housing bubble, the provincial government claiming that a similar foreign tax will do more harm than good and an influx of more foreign buyers.

But for onlookers in Vancouver, the situation is enraging as more and more first-time buyers are left out of the real estate market. What is even angering is the fact that the Ontario is uttering the same claims Clark expressed before intervening in the market.

One thing for certain though is that either the housing crisis in Vancouver meant nothing to the Ontario government or they are deliberately pretending to disregard the situation.

But there are warnings that Toronto should be mindful as foreign buyers especially from China are being lured in their numbers to the city.

Toronto residents should not sit with folded hands watching their home values being increased. It’s a very detrimental situation for millennials as the province has presently become Canada’s most unaffordable market.