22 March 2018

As you now, a provincial election is coming, and TREB is calling for candidates making their housing policy plans clear and understandable, so that they could be publicly discussed.

“One of the most important things here is policy direction concerning housing supply in the GTA. It’s an issue which has yet to be solved with the help of policy moves from any level of government,” – he said.

According to TREB’s updated outlook, the psychological influence of the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and the OSFI mortgage stress tests has already weakened housing demand in the GTA.

“The fundamentals affecting the market demand will remain mostly unchanged this year. The population growth will be still supported by immigration and job growth and will benefit from many other economic sectors. Nevertheless, we have to understand that in the short term, borrowing costs increase and the consequences of federal and provincial policy changes will reduce the real estate demand, especially in the first half of 2018,” – noted Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.