AFP, Ottawa :
Canada’s Ontario province announced new rent controls and a 15-percent tax on home purchases by non-resident foreigners on Thursday to try to cool a searing hot Toronto-area real estate market.
They are among 16 measures targeting real estate speculation and affordability concerns in the city and surrounding communities that are home to about 10 million people, or nearly a third of Canada’s population.
“People are betting that our future is going to be bright,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told a news conference. “And that’s why they are coming here.”
“But when speculation drives the average resale price of a home up by 33 percent in just 12 months, that’s when we know we have a problem,” she added. “When young people cannot afford their own apartment or cannot imagine owning their own home, we know we have a problem… and we know we have to act.”
In the last year, residential real estate prices in the Toronto area jumped 33.2 percent to Can$916,567 (US$680,031), pushing home ownership beyond the reach of most Canadians.
Average rents went up 11 percent, while the vacancy rate fell to a 12-year low of 1.3 percent.
Canada’s Ontario province announced new rent controls and a 15-percent tax on home purchases by non-resident foreigners on Thursday to try to cool a searing hot Toronto-area real estate market.
They are among 16 measures targeting real estate speculation and affordability concerns in the city and surrounding communities that are home to about 10 million people, or nearly a third of Canada’s population.
“People are betting that our future is going to be bright,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told a news conference. “And that’s why they are coming here.”
“But when speculation drives the average resale price of a home up by 33 percent in just 12 months, that’s when we know we have a problem,” she added. “When young people cannot afford their own apartment or cannot imagine owning their own home, we know we have a problem… and we know we have to act.”
In the last year, residential real estate prices in the Toronto area jumped 33.2 percent to Can$916,567 (US$680,031), pushing home ownership beyond the reach of most Canadians.
Average rents went up 11 percent, while the vacancy rate fell to a 12-year low of 1.3 percent.
