[uberman]

While I don't live in a big city, a neighbor of mine purchased their ranch for 700k pre-pandemic and have just offered it for sale three years later for 1.5 million so price doubling is not exclusive to Canada nor to "big cities".

To be fair, you showcase King, but King is a very affluent community and thanks to the 400 running through the middle of King Township, it is a bedroom community even for downtown Toronto. The homes for sale in King tend to be in the 3500 to 5000 sqft range and while they are super expensive, a 5000 sqft house, an hours drive from Manhattan, with a yard would cost as much or more in USD than a house in King for CAD.

You say this is a government / bank problem. Should the Feds (CA and/or USA) have kept interest rates high during COVID to keep house prices low?