Investors with multiple homes are dominating the Toronto real estate market

Toronto's housing market is completely insane, a playground of rampant speculation for wealthy investors and practically unattainable for everyone else.

If a rising population has been the figurative fuel behind the city's 21st-century building boom, then investment and speculation have been the nitrous oxide. Or the helium, if you want to get into the housing bubble discussion.

Even after all the headlines, it's still a bit of a surprise to learn just how much of the housing market these investors truly represent in Toronto and the surrounding province.

Land registry operator, Teranet, released a fourth-quarter market insight report, revealing that almost 25 per cent of homes purchased in Ontario in the first eight months of 2021 were sold to buyers who own multiple properties.

This is more than any other share of purchaser categories, exceeding first-time homebuyers, movers, and others.

The latest Quarterly #MarketInsightReport is now available! The Q4 2021 edition takes a step back and focuses on the #OntarioHousingMarket as a whole, as we segment all transfers of ownership of properties based on various buyer profiles. Read the report: https://t.co/AnGCZ0zGWn pic.twitter.com/5IyBX0rAHp

— Teranet Tweets (@teranet_social) October 18, 2021

The report analyzes over a decade of sales logged between January 2011 and August 2021, showing a 50 per cent increase of multiple property owners' market share in the province during that time.

Those actually purchasing their first home (to actually live in) in the province this year only represented shy of 22 per cent, though this is still a notable improvement over the lows seen in 2017, when investor activity was spiraling out of control and bubble talk was at its peak.

In Toronto, investors are buying up an outrageously high volume of homes. Approaching 30 per cent of homes sold in Toronto this year were picked up by buyers who already owned multiple properties.

Yes, almost one out of every three homes sold in the city was bought by someone who already owns property. All while most in Toronto are stressing about their mortgage or their next rent payment.

Market conditions favourable to investors like lower interest rates and high prices translate to a lower share of first-time homebuyers, the figure now sitting below 27 per cent in Toronto.