RichardAndLiz wrote:
dtc wrote:
You will see more places in the core where they tear down blocks of the 1950s/1960s houses and throw up high rises.
Fat chance. Those shitty homes are worth $850,000 each today. (probably double that in the next 15 years)
Nope. $850,000 for one house or 1,500 units x $450,000 in condos. Do the math.

Eventually those houses need to be torn down and rebuilt. How many homes are still standing from the 1910s,1920s? When you go to ask permission to rebuild another detached house on the lot, you will be denied.
Look up the government intensification guidelines and you will see.. they aren't approving low rise anymore. They want dense urban areas with lots of people per sq/m.
Here is some reading:
http://torontorealestatemarket.net/tag/intensification/Quote:
New development must follow the rules. Growth in the GTA is dictated by provincial policy, including the ban of development on the green belt and the Places to Grow guidelines. These policies call for the region’s growth to take place through intensification, which means the GTA must grow up through highrise development and not out through lowrise development.
And while “up not out” seems like a logical approach, there may be some unintended consequences.
What happens if you can’t build enough new housing?
We need approximately 40,000 units per year to keep pace with the region’s population growth. RealNet’s research shows lowrise supplies are currently at a record low level of 6,819 units and shrinking, while purpose-built rental buildings are almost nonexistent. This means the rest of the demand must be fulfilled by highrise development, but the challenge lies in capacity.
Based on RealNet’s tracking, the GTA’s entire highrise development industry working at full capacity over the last five years have not been able to produce more than 15,789 units in a given year.
Undersupply may be a real possibility for the GTA, and that might have unintended consequences of upward pressure on prices.