A look ahead at GTA housing, infrastructure and sustainability

Immigration is the driver for overall housing demand in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). But, will current transit and transportation infrastructure projects be enough to accommodate population growth over the long term? TRREB’s 2023 Market Outlook & 2022 Year in Review report and interactive digital digest uncover what’s next for the real estate market.

Policymakers need to take action and ensure housing and surrounding infrastructure serves the needs of its residents. Inside the report and digital digest, readers will find transit and transportation trends for the next three decades, research on the effects electrical vehicles will have on the residential real estate sector, more in-depth results from Ipsos polling on buying and selling intentions, and the ways affordability and supply challenges continue to exist in the marketplace. You can also watch videos on sales, average prices and listings for 2023 as well as discover the outlook on interest rates and the rental market.

Greener future

Hosted by TRREB President Paul Baron, the Market Outlook event took place on Feb. 10, with more than 600 TRREB members, industry partners and associations in attendance.

TRREB CEO John DiMichele shared why a greener future is not possible without building greener homes, and having the right infrastructure to support these new developments.

“We have to build homes and communities better, so before builders start coming up with plans for their next project, we need them to think about building sustainable homes,” DiMichele says. “They need to have an eye on environmental sustainability from raw materials to green designs that will benefit, not burden, our future generations.”

A year of two halves

When it comes to the market outlook, TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer says, “It will be a year of two halves in 2023. The first half will feel similar to the fall of 2022, due to the lingering effects of higher borrowing costs and related economic uncertainty. However, recent polling by Ipsos suggests buying intentions are edging up. The second half of 2023 should be characterized by an increase in demand for ownership housing, supported by lower fixed mortgage rates, a relatively resilient labour market, and record immigration.”

The event also featured Ipsos consumer polling results on homebuying and selling intentions. The new research suggests buying intentions are edging up, with 28 per cent of respondents saying they will consider buying a home in 2023. This is up two per cent over the previous polling results. Listing intentions were also slightly up, with 39 per cent of homeowners saying they would consider listing their home in 2023.

To read more about consumer buying and selling intentions, research from CANCEA on transportation infrastructure, and insights from the Pembina Institute on electric vehicle trends in Canada and the impact on real estate, explore the digital digest and report at trreb.ca.