This is how much Toronto's home prices have changed over the last 5 years: report
The cost of living in Toronto went up nearly 20 per cent between 2017 and 2022 – but that’s less than half the increase seen in the city’s housing prices over the last five years, according to a new report.
Real estate website Zoocasa.com crunched the numbers in a blog post published earlier this week in which living expenses were compared against the benchmark home price in 15 Canadian cities over the two five-year periods.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
In Toronto, the report showed that the Market Basket Measure (MBM), which represents the costs of goods and services like food, clothing, and shelter for an average family of two adults and two children, was at $55,262 in 2022.
The MBM, which Statistics Canada cites as the official measure of poverty in a given city, was $46,975 in 2017, meaning that the cost of living has jumped 17.6 per cent in those five years.
While that may seem like a lot, Toronto’s benchmark home price has risen by 42.8 per cent since 2019.
According to Zoocasa, which sourced its real estate data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the benchmark home price in Toronto five years ago was $746,500. Now, in 2024, that number is $1,065,800.
“With home prices rising at a rate much faster than the cost of living, many Canadians are finding it increasingly difficult to find affordable housing options,” Carrie Lysenko, CEO of Zoocasa, said in the report.
The report notes that although Toronto and Vancouver had the third and second-highest MBMs in 2022 (Calgary was highest at $55,771), benchmark home prices in those cities did not increase as “significantly” as they did in smaller ones like Moncton and Halifax -- where home prices have gone up 100.1 per cent and 82.4 per cent, respectively, since 2019.
The cost of living between 2017 and 2022 is compared to the benchmark home price between 2019 and 2024 across 15 Canadian cities in this study by Zoocasa.com. (Zoocasa)
Conversely, in two of the 15 cities surveyed in the study, the benchmark home price actually lagged behind the MBM.
In Regina, for example, the 5-year change in home price was 8.7 per cent while the MBM between 2017 and 2022 was 16.1 per cent. Similarly, in Edmonton, the average home price went up by 9.1 per cent while the MBM hit 18 per cent.
“Even in cities where the cost of living is on the rise, the relatively stable home prices present a unique opportunity for homebuyers to enter the market,” Lysenko said on this point.
“This underscores the importance of exploring options beyond the primary metropolitan areas or single-family detached homes for those seeking affordability in today’s market.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
B.C.'s top doctor ends four-year COVID-19 public health emergency
After four years of mask mandates, gathering restrictions, vaccinations and hospitalizations, British Columbia’s provincial health officer has ended the province's public-health emergency for COVID-19.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
Sask. appeal court says anti-trans group cannot join constitutional dispute over pronoun law
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has denied a political group that opposes so-called “gender ideology” intervener status in a legal dispute over the province’s controversial pronoun law.
Powerful cartel leader 'El Mayo' Zambada was lured onto airplane before arrest in U.S., AP source says
A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter.
Elon Musk's estranged daughter calls out his 'entirely fake' claims about her childhood
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's estranged daughter, publicly refuted several recent anti-trans statements her Tesla CEO and X owner father has made about her.