Good point. ‘In the last two decades, home prices have gone up by 375 percent in Canada. These increases have been especially marked in in Toronto and Vancouver, where prices have swelled by 450 and 490 percent respectively. This rise far outstrips any other developed markets in the world. In recent years, an incredible gulf has opened between house prices and real income.’

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2022/01/canada-housing-market-real-estate

It’s not just lack of regulation and artificially low interest rates, but those factors certainly contributed. The commodification of housing is at the core of this bubble. Fomo is real. Residential investment is half of all investment in Canada now. 50% of Canada’s economic growth in recent years is housing-related.

As long as the Canadian gov’t treats real estate as a protected investment, the bubble will continue to grow. The Canadian gov’t keeps saying immigration is driving the bubble but since 25% of new homes are being bought by speculators, that seems unlikely. I’m sure you know people buying and flipping homes that don’t even exist yet. Canadian real estate is also a favorite place for international money launderers to ‘snow-wash’ their ill-gotten gains. One solution for the money laundering that is driving up prices in Toronto & Vancouver is fairly simple–as Transparency International has frequently noted–a public registry of beneficial ownership. That would be fairly simple to implement and would chase away a lot of dirty money. It seems that the gov’t is afraid to do this for fear of popping the property bubble. Meanwhile, middle class Canadians are spending an absurd amount of their incomes to keep themselves housed.

Running out of steam? Here in KW the average detached was +133k in January and now another +75k in February … houses sell instantly and there is no inventory.

$ + Laundy = Canada housing

Agreed. Something definitely needs to change. The real issues are being ignored and fueled further by the current government and BOC. It’s time for some fresh leaders to step forward who understand the true issues Canadians face today.