MARKET INSIGHT FOR THE WEEK ENDING – April 28th, 2023
Toronto Edges One Step Closer to City-Wide Multiplex Legalization
As Toronto’s population continues to expand, new allowances pertaining to multiplexes have moved one step closer to realization.
On Thursday, a proposed item — the likes of which would allow for low-rise housing types of up to four units to be built in all neighbourhoods across the city went to Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee and was thereafter approved.
According to a City staff report released on April 13, Toronto is expected to attract 700,000
newcomers by 2051, and despite an uptick in the city’s mid- and high-rise housing development, the supply of low-rise housing, including multiplexes, has continually lagged behind actual demand.
Multiplexes are expected to be exempt from FSI provisions, according to city staff, which should help them to be feasibly built. (The FSI is the ‘Floor Space Index’. To put it simply, it is defined as the maximum permitted floor area that a developer can build or construct on any given plot or piece of land area).
“Given that built form is regulated through numerous performance standards like setbacks, building length and depth, and landscaping, and that FSI only applies to a portion of this city, staff are of the opinion that eliminating FSI restrictions for multiplexes is appropriate and aligns with direction to move towards more form- based zoning for residential areas as outlined in the Housing Action Plan,” the city report goes on to say.
The report also notes that, if legalized, multiplexes could help to accommodate and encourage
aging in place “by reducing emissions through neighbourhoods that allow people to walk, bike, or take transit; allowing for less carbon-intensive construction; and helping to protect the regional greenspace system by better using urbanized land.”
If the item is approved by City Council, the new zoning allowances will go beyond the Province’s More Homes Built Faster Act, overriding municipal zoning and allowing for up to three units on all residential properties. City Council is expected to consider the item in May.
Here are the top 5 trending stories of the week:
- Housing prices rise month over month for the first time in 10 months “The cost of Canadian housing could finally be tracking back up, according to the latest results from a long-running index, but the economist who prepared the report thinks it’s too early to say.”
- Demystifying interest rates: Current vs. historical “As a mortgage agent, I like to keep up-to-date on the fluctuations and ever-changing nature of the real estate market. On one show I recently watched in my living room, the panel of real estate professionals made repeated references to current interest rates being quite low in comparison to historical interest rates from the 1980s and 1990s.”
- “Poised For An Upswing”: GTA New Home Market Picks Up Almost 40% in March “It’s been a sleepy year so far for GTA real estate, and the new home market has certainly not been exempt. That said, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) reported Monday that the region’s new home segment rallied in March, with 1,277 sales recorded. Although that figure is up 38.5% from February, it’s also down 70% from March 2022 and 65% below the 10-year average.”
- Canada’s Variable Rate Mortgage Binge Is Over “Canadian real estate owners are seeking the security (& discount) of fixed rate mortgages. Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows the share of new mortgage loans with variable interest continued to shrink in February. Just one year ago, the majority of new loans were attached to variable rate mortgages. Now the share is back to pre-pandemic levels, as fast rising interest rates spook the market.”
- It now costs a record-high price to live in a modern Toronto rental building “The cost of living continues its meteoric ascent in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and it will now cost you an average of over $3,000 per month to lease a unit in one of the region’s many modern purpose-built rental buildings. New first-quarter figures from real estate analysts Urbanation shed light on the rising tide of rent in the country’s most populous region.”
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