When Thiago Lang and his wife started looking for a home in the Greater Toronto Area last year, they spent most weekends viewing about 15 properties and making up to five offers a week – often above the asking price – on homes sold at astronomical prices.

My business agent said, "You play a fair game, but the market right now is not fair."

Eventually, the high prices and outrageous bidding wars pushed the family to the Barrie area, where they got a three-bedroom home valued at $811,000. They secured this home after paying $112,000 over the asking price last December. To close the deal, they had to waive conditions such as home inspection and agree to what Lang called a "crazy demand" from the seller to move in within 16 days.

Stories like Lang’s have become the norm in recent years as parts of the province have become unaffordable to live in, with a shortage of supply and rampant exposure to heated bidding wars.

The situation has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and remote work, making home ownership more desirable and less attainable.

The median home sold in the Greater Toronto Area was $910,290 in February 2020, before the first pandemic lockdown. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said it jumped to over $1.2 million in April 2022.

Affordability in Ontario is a major issue on the minds of voters in the upcoming provincial election.

The real estate agent at Re/Max Hallmark Realty who helped Lang buy his home said: "We can’t manufacture more land."

"We have a supply and demand problem, and the problem consistently is that we have more buyers with pre-approved mortgages and good jobs and then there is no supply."

The Smart Prosperity Institute and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association estimated that one million new homes need to be built over the next ten years to meet demand. This includes 910,000 homes for new families, 65,000 units to address the current supply shortage, and 25,000 to support future population growth.

Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford hopes for re-election on a promise to build 1.5 million homes over 10 years – a key recommendation from a government-appointed task force. Legislation passed shortly before the election call included measures to speed approvals and other processes, but lacks bolder steps like changing municipal zoning rules to allow more housing construction.

The government blamed uncooperative municipalities but the Conservatives promised more action.

Andrea Horwath, leader of the New Democratic Party, also pledged to deliver 1.5 million homes through a mix of purpose-built homes and rentals and affordable housing units.

The NDP government also promises to offer home purchase loans to help first-time buyers with down payments. People from households earning up to $200,000 per year may qualify for loans up to 10 percent of the purchase price.

The Liberals adopted the same 1.5 million target and vowed to work with municipalities to allow building up to three units and two storeys. They also promised to impose a tax on vacant homes and a "use it or lose it" tax on developers.

Real estate agent Teitsson believes the cost of buying a home needs close consideration, especially for first-time buyers. Many focus on what they will need for mortgage pre-approval or as a down payment, but later discover that the land transfer tax is a huge amount they must also calculate.

She estimates someone buying an $800,000 home in Toronto would pay land transfer taxes to the province and city amounting to about $24,950. First-time buyers get a rebate of about $8,475 only.

“The land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers is very high.” “I think they need bigger rebates or potential rebates tied to their income, things that can support buyers.”

Meanwhile, Lang wants to end blind bidding, a widely used practice where sellers do not disclose competing offers.

While searching for his home, he made an offer only to be told by the seller’s agent that "the offer is far from their budget." He raised his offer several times and got the same response each time before the property sold for $1,000 more than he offered.

“I’m 100 percent sure they were just using us to drive up the price.”

“I think if you really want to have market control and a fair price between seller and buyer, there should be an open conversation.”

The Ontario government recently moved to allow sellers the option to disclose details of competing offers but stopped short of banning blind bidding.

The latest federal government budget included a move toward banning this practice, but it has not yet come into effect.

On the other hand, the Real Estate Association of British Columbia noted that Sweden does not allow blind bidding in offers but saw faster growth in home prices during the pandemic compared to Canada, and similar growth in home prices over the past twenty years.

The average monthly rent for Canadian properties on Rentals.ca was $1,818 in March, a 6.6 percent increase from $1,706 the previous year. In Toronto alone, renting a one-bedroom was estimated at $2,023 and a two-bedroom at $2,776.

Editor: Dima Abu Khair