It may be regarded as a moot point, but the Royal Bank of Canada has made “headlines” by announcing that Toronto has now surpassed Vancouver for having Canada’s most expensive real estate market. According to RBC, Toronto’s benchmark price is now $1.260 million and Vancouver’s is $1.255, the first time Toronto has been ranked first in…decades.
“It’s a stunning development,“ RBC said in its report.
What may be stunning also may be moot, because Vancouver’s benchmark price is still a record, the highest it has ever been. The shift has taken place because Toronto’s Home Price Index showed an annual increase of 33.3 per cent last month while Vancouver’s HPI increase was 18.5 per cent.
In January alone, Toronto’s average home price jumped by $52,000. This was a title shift that many saw coming after the average home price in Toronto in December was just four per cent below Vancouver’s average home price, the closest the two cities had been in 31 years.
Since 2018, Toronto home prices have gained by 40 per cent, and Vancouver’s by 13 per cent.