Housing in 2023: What to expect

Learning from recent changes in property values

Meanwhile, in 2023 the GTA is expected to see a record number of new condo units, despite the Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) prediction that the housing market will crash.

e RBC's Monthly Housing Update predicts that there will be price corrections all across Canada. e report states that for the housing market in Ontario, "a cyclical bottom is approaching—likely in early 2023." According to the RBC, the decline will continue until spring at the earliest.

With Toronto real estate prices being so hard to predict, what should commuter students expect when looking for places to stay?

Toronto's housing market has taken multiple unexpected turns in the past few years. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for new real estate increased drastically largely because people were spending more time in their homes. Following this jump, property values were stable for most of 2021.

Towards the start of 2022, housing prices accelerated rapidly, causing record highs. In March of 2022, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) benchmark price for a place in Ontario peaked at $1.08 million which was 64 percent higher than before the pandemic. e prices then started falling due to increased interest rates and buyer fatigue. e CREA benchmark piece has fallen about 20 percent since then, bringing the prices back to what they were in September 2021. e number of new home sales within the GTA was at its lowest since 2018. None of these changes were expected within the market.

Although the GTA had been expecting to see a record number of condos entering the housing market, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) warned that the increased building costs, drop in condo reconstruction sales, and increased interest rates will possibly "lead to project cancellations or delays in project launches." Due to the current uncertainty within the market, real estate analysts expect the number of sales and listings to remain low for the upcoming months. e CMHC foresees that the price decline will continue until the year's second quarter.

e housing supply crunch has put Premier Doug Ford and his promise to have 1.5 million homes built in Ontario in the following decade in a di cult position. Ford has been using the province’s perceived lack of housing to justify cutting into the greenbelt for new housing and overpowering conservation authorities.

Commuter students should expect housing prices to continue to fall until the end of the winter semester, with limited housing options to choose from at the end of the cycle. ose looking for places at the moment can be advised to wait while prices continue to fall.

Here’s what you need to know about

New Alcohol Guidelines

The

latest

stats are in on drinking—and they’re pretty dire.

e Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) kicked o the new year by delivering a long-awaited report on the risks of alcohol consumption. e report updates Canadian medical guidance in accordance with new evidence on the risks of alcohol consumption since the CCSA’s previous report established guidelines in 2011. e report, entitled Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, makes several drastic changes to the previous government alcohol guidelines.

Prior to January 2023, the Canadian government recommended individuals assigned male at birth consume no more than 15 standard drinks per week and individuals assigned female at birth consume no more than ten standard drinks per week. Now, the CCSA’s updated guidelines suggest fewer than two standard drinks for all individuals. A standard drink is de ned by the CCSA as the equivalent of a 12-oz. bottle of ve percent alcohol beer, or a 5-oz. glass of 12 percent alcohol wine.

ese new recommendations have been made according to the most recent research on the risk of premature death due to alcohol consumption. According to the CCSA, current medical research suggests that ingesting between one and two alcoholic drinks per week increases a person’s risk of premature death to 1 in 1000. However, ingesting between three and six drinks per week increases the same risk to 1 in 100, and the risk of premature death increases substantially for each additional drink beyond six. is e ect is more pronounced in individuals assigned female at birth than those assigned male at birth.

Alcohol has been known to contribute to a variety of health conditions including cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Alcohol is a proven carcinogen for seven types of cancer, and Health Canada attributes 7,000 cases of cancer death to alcohol consumption per year. Alcohol consumption is also a proven risk factor for most types of cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, as well as a leading cause of liver disease through the build-up of fat in the liver. e CCSA also warns that alcohol is known to increase incidences of violent behaviour and can elevate the risk of intimate partner violence and assault.

In their report, the CCSA calls on the Canadian government to introduce new health warning labels on alcohol containers to ensure public awareness of