Toronto housing prices expected to soar over next decade

Just months after they told us Toronto's hot, hot housing market was finally starting to chill, analysts are now saying "Lol jk – it's going to get so much worse!"

CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal told The Globe and Mail in an interview this week that, while home sales in both Toronto and Vancouver will still soften over the next year, they won't stay like that for very long.

"If you think those cities are unaffordable now," he said, "just wait."

An ominous statement if I've ever heard one.

Tal details the factors contributing to this expected period of "major long-term price growth" in a new report released on Tuesday.

The problem appears to be two pronged; a combination of demand for homes outstripping supply, and a lack of foresight on the part of policy makers.

It would take 10 years of stagnant home prices and moderate income growth to make home ownership in Toronto affordable to the average Canadian: https://t.co/dbTabaNvFU via @buzzbuzzhome

— Matt Smith, MBA (@TheSmithEstate) November 14, 2017

Remember when Ontario introduced new rules to help rein in GTA home prices back in April?

Tal says that measures like these (and the federal government's new mortgage stress-test) won't do nearly enough to temper the future effects of demand for housing in Canada's most expensive cities.

"Those fundamentals not only will prevent a dramatic decline, but will lead to a strong increase from a long-term perspective over the next five to 10 years," he tells The Globe.

"I think that from a long-term perspective, everything we are doing is temporary."

So... buy now? If you can? I guess?