After a battle between the city and province that's lasted for decades, Toronto will soon require developers to build affordable units in new condo buildings in an attempt to add thousands of homes below market value in the coming years. Councillors voted 23 to 2 to use a new power called inclusionary zoning, which allows the city to compel developers to make five to 10 per cent of units affordable in new towers within 500 metres of major transit stations starting in September 2022. That percentage will increase to eight to 22 per cent by 2030, depending on the neighbourhood.
Canadians are scrambling to get mortgage pre-approvals and rate holds before the era of low interest rates comes to an end, as some economists predict. Real estate and mortgage brokers say their clients are increasingly seeking ways to hold on to current rates because many housing markets like Toronto are facing heated conditions making it hard to keep purchase prices down.
Prospective homebuyers in the Greater Toronto Area found dramatically fewer homes on the market last month than they did a year ago. October was another record setting month for Toronto and the GTA with the average year-over-year selling price up 19.3% to $1,155,345. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said that 9,783 homes in the region changed hands last month, down nearly 7% from a record 10,503 in October 2020. Despite the fall, the result was still the second highest level for the month of October even as the number of new listings fell by about third compared with a year ago.