Toronto real estate market is too hot

Re Canadian housing prices up 9% in April, May 16 It is time for government to take action to cool the overheated real estate markets in Toronto and Vancouver so the average Canadian can afford to purchase a home during their lifetime.

It is well known that real estate prices in these two centres are being fuelled by foreign investors who see Canadian real estate as a safe place to park their money, especially in the low-Canadian-dollar environment we are now experiencing.

The result is a generation of Canadians who face a lifetime of renting, a situation that attracts further foreign investment and price escalation, since it guarantees a steady stream of renters for these foreign-owned properties.

The solution does not involve any novel strategy but simply the reintroduction of some tax measures that previously existed in Ontario: higher land transfer taxes rates for non-resident purchasers and a land speculation tax to discourage land speculation.

Besides providing new sources of tax revenue for the province and the city, in the case of Toronto, these measures would go a long way toward helping Canadians fulfil their dream of owning a home. Greg Sheehan, Mississauga