As real estate prices continue to soar, it's no longer just first-time buyers feeling the heat, says CIBC economist Benjamin Tal. With the average price of a detached home now approaching $1 million in Toronto, even even those higher up on the property ladder are feeling stuck. The 'dream home,' that for many Canadians has been a rite of passage for aeons is now just that, a dream. Homeowners, faced with skyrocketing prices are instead opting to stay put and renovate their existing homes. According to Tal, this dynamic has "major implications for the market [and] means that the market is even tighter than it appears." And those implications are already being played out. The paralysis of the 'move up' market has directly affected house prices on the lower rungs. As more homeowners choose to stay and renovate, fewer listings are posted. Demand, however, hasn't slowed down and frenzied bidding wars on fixer-uppers are becoming an all-too-common occurrence. - Patrick James Bissett
· Move-up buyers 'paralyzed' by high house prices: CIBC [The Star]
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