[moufestaphio]

>> Toronto was ranked as the 98th most expensive city in the world; not even in the top 50.

So, I'm not going to look into different methodologies that are used, but Toronto is often ranked near the top of least affordable cities.

For example: http://demographia.com/dhi.pdf

[otoburb]

>>Toronto is often ranked near the top of least affordable cities.

When the only factor is home ownership, which is the focus of URI's study, this is absolutely correct. But then I think back to how absolutely unaffordable housing was across the GTA in the late 80s, after which point people were able to buy back in again when the housing market corrected 40% in most of the GTA, with certain areas of Toronto (not the GTA) dropping by over 50%.

Homeowners generally want housing prices to rise indefinitely, but this is in direct opposition to younger cohorts wanting affordable entry points to home ownership.

The URI study also doesn't mention anything about renting. There are rumbles that Toronto developers have built too many properties (condos primarily), so perhaps an oversupply will benefit both renters and potential homebuyers if/when property prices correct.

[dsomers]

Condos built in Toronto are mostly terrible for anyone that’s not single. They’re basically Airbnb speculation boxes in the sky. The city suffers badly from “the missing middle“ problem because of bad zoning. It’s a big part of why I moved away after living there 8 years.

[astrange]

Speculation up in the sky isn't really a problem since a) it's a tax base b) it's not hurting you since it doesn't take up land c) a condo is strictly cheaper than a house on the same land.

If housing is expensive it's because there aren't enough houses or the land is too expensive, and it's true that much of this is due to zoning and similar restrictions like parking minimums.

[dsomers]

It is hurting families because mostly only small 1 bedroom apartments get built which are more attractive to Airbnb investors. However zoning is probably the biggest problem, yes. Far too much of the city is zoned for single family housing.