In Toronto Many Of Us Can't Afford Our Own Homes

Published October 16, 2007 @ 20:02 in Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

homeAt this rate, Toronto will soon be a playground for the very rich. Home prices in the 416 area code continue to rise and now Torontonians like myself are experiencing a very interesting phenomenon. We can't afford to buy our own homes.

When I originally bought my house, I was able to afford it. This may seem like a redundant statement, because if I was able to buy I must have been able to buy it, but I can no longer afford to buy it. The value of my home right now is more than I can afford at this point in my life.

I wonder how many Torontonians are in this same position? Some see this as a good thing, because it means you've made money on your house should you decide to sell it. But what next? I would want a home in the same neighbourhood, and I'd want something a little bigger, so I can't afford to sell, even if the value has increased 25% in the past three years. I'm just lucky I got in when I did because I don't know where I'd end up if I were just now entering the housing market for the first time.

At some point in the not too distant future, a modest earner will be forced to buy in the 905. Toronto will be for multi-millionaire's only, and that's bad news for poor bastards like me.

5 Responses to "In Toronto Many Of Us Can't Afford Our Own Homes"

Toronto realtor
October 17, 2007 / 04:33

Rising home prices is a natural phenomenon in cities that are expanding, improving, and becoming more and more livable. Seemingly it is a contradiction, because the higher the prices are the more difficult it is to buy a decent property in the given city. So you may argue that thus the city is becoming less and less livable. Well, there really is a price you have to pay to move to, or continue living in, the city. Toronto is no exception.
But I still don't think our city would soon become one for multimillionaires only.

Freddie P.
October 17, 2007 / 10:21

"At some point in the not too distant future, a modest earner will be forced to buy in the 905. Toronto will be for multi-millionaire's only, and that's bad news for poor bastards like me."

It's not bad news. Move to Brampton where life is good, affordable, and contrary to vicious popular opinion, a lot safer than Toronto.

Toronto realtor
October 23, 2007 / 06:52

I have found an interesting article on US and Canadian real estate markets in The Globe and Mail. It reads: U.S. sneezes, Canada stays healthy, examining why the real estate market north of the border remains immune from what's ailing U.S.
Blake Hutcheson, president of CB Richard Ellis Ltd. says that "in those areas where Canada is one small part of increasingly interdependent North American business activity, such as capital markets, we are already being hit with the fallout. The U.S. credit crunch is expected to make money to refinance existing projects or fund new ones either unavailable or more expensive" He added that "In the past, it might have taken up to six months to affect us. This time we started to feel the impact in about two minutes."
Terrence Belford, author of the article maintains that with 100,000 new immigrants every year, Toronto's demand for residential properties will likely remain strong. "But low mortgage rates will be key: It seems to be monthly carrying costs, not purchase price, that drives this market", he says.
I am not going to quote the whole article, read it yourselves, it really is interesting.

David Pylyp
November 7, 2009 / 19:01

How do you feel now about what you wrote in 2007 in light of where we are now; almost closing out 2009 and heading into 2010.

Where will it end?

David Pylyp
Living in Toronto

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