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Business report: Is supply the problem in Toronto’s housing market?

A sold sign is shown in front of west-end Toronto homes, Sunday, April 9, 2017.
A sold sign is shown in front of west-end Toronto homes, Sunday, April 9, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Is a lack of supply really behind sky high prices in the Toronto market?

New analysis by Bloomberg using data from the 2016 Canadian Census suggests that may not be the case.

The report found that Toronto grew by 146,200 households between 2011 and 2016, but that over the same time period 175,825 new homes were built.

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That suggests a surplus of nearly 30,000 homes.

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That overbuilding made up in part for a market that was short of supply for the five year period before 2011, but over the last decade was largely balanced.

The data did find a supply of detached single family homes tightening up, with a 13 per cent growth in new houses over the last decade, versus a 19 per cent growth in total households.

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The other big question is whether a supply glut could actually prompt a correction.

Half of young adults in Toronto live with their parents — the highest ratio in Canada — which according to bank economists is actually slowing household formation.

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