But in a country obsessed with real estate, the Toronto market is now the biggest problem—surpassing Vancouver as the epicentre of housing insanity—and a troubling example of what happens when homes are no longer seen as just places to live, but as a path to riches. Even skeptics who once deployed euphemisms such as “robust” to describe Toronto real estate can no longer ignore the troubling forces at work. Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Financial Group, used to be in that camp. Now
he says “bubble” is the only way to describe Toronto. “We’re trying to send a message to both policymakers and potential buyers that we are on the verge of getting into a dangerous place,” he says. Equally troubling is that economists don’t see anything on the near horizon that will reverse these trends. The housing market might just get even crazier.