It’s official: Toronto is now Canada’s most expensive jurisdiction for real estate. A recent RBC real estate report shows that the latest data has Ontario’s capital city as edging Vancouver out in the average price of a home. Toronto is at $1.260M to Vancouver’s $1.255M figure (as of Jan. 2022′). Average prices in Toronto rose by over $43K in January of 2022 alone – a 4.3% increase – a figure that in most real estate markets takes a year to materialize (on a good year). Detached homes are what buyers want most and prices for these commodities are soaring in the suburbs (30-40% increases are common). The same RBC report cites all of these fundamentals as cause for continued price growth for the foreseeable future.
One of the responses by Toronto City Officials to the housing mania has been the recent legalization of ‘garden suites’ on city lots. The City defines a garden suite as a “housing unit, usually located in the backyard of an existing house, but separate and detached from the main house. Garden suites, like laneway suites, are generally smaller than the main house on the lot. Garden Suites are often a way to create homes for family members – parents, grandparents or adult children – or can be used as rental housing units.”
The process for getting started: “With this amendment, people submitting a building permit application to build a Garden Suite will be required to post a public notice on the property. This move also facilitates the collection of data and monitoring of garden suites by the Toronto Building and City Planning divisions, similar to laneway suite construction.” Other moves by the city include:
- permitting new types of accessory housing such as coach houses
- allowing more residential units in forms compatible with existing houses, such as duplexes and triplexes, where they are currently not permitted
- and zoning to allow more low-rise housing options on major streets
More information on garden suites can be found here:
The official City ‘Garden Suites report’ is here: