WATCH: The Mayor says it's too soon for government intervention on Toronto's surging home prices. @jamesontheradio reports. #TOpoli pic.twitter.com/RB4fm1ANIY
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) March 3, 2017
The Mayor says it's too soon to talk about stepping in on Toronto's skyrocketing housing market.
New data from the Toronto Real Estate Board shows the average detached house shot up in value by over $200,000 through the month of February.
It's now worth about $1.5 million.
John Tory disagrees with the growing chorus of economists at banks like BMO and Scotiabank who say that to prevent a major shock to the housing market, it might be time for government intervention.
Tory says he prefers to defer to experts in Ottawa, like the Federal Finance Minister.
Bill Morneau has pointed to factors like low interest rates, unemployment lower than the national average, and an influx of new Toronto residents as ones that have fuelled the surge in home prices.
However, Tory says the price of housing remains an almost daily conversation in his office, and that he's "very concerned" about the situation.
He adds that it's one that hopes to address with a push to build more affordable housing.
The Mayor suggests that there's little that he alone can do to address the issue.
"The worst thing you can do as a politician, I think, is to fool people into thinking there's a measure you can announce at a podium ... as an answer to the situation we face." Some economists have said that Toronto should follow British Columbia's lead.
A move there to impose a tax on foreign buyers has dragged down the prices of houses in Metro Vancouver.