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Pasalis, the founder of Realosophy Realty Inc., welcomes the way markets are cooling in Toronto and Vancouver. But he thinks the “utopian” ratio of four to one is not going to return anytime soon to Canada’s two biggest gateway cities for migrants.

Only a few years ago, housing prices in Toronto and Vancouver were jumping by almost one-fifth each year. It is no longer, however, an auspicious time for offshore or domestic investors to speculate in either city. “The flippers,” Pasalis says, “are definitely getting a little bit squeezed now.”

He believes regulations Ontario and B.C. have brought in to calm the housing markets need to stay in place if there is to be hope for people who work and live in the cities to be able to afford buying houses, duplexes or condominiums.

“I think both Toronto and Vancouver housing markets are really fuelled and driven by immigrants. But I think Vancouver has more non-resident purchasers and just a lot of foreign capital. In Vancouver, you have a lot more residents who are getting their money from overseas.”

Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Metro Vancouver is significantly more expensive, in addition, because it’s especially attractive to people in East Asia.

“I think partly it is Vancouver’s proximity to China. And Vancouver’s climate is a factor,” he said. “There is also a lot of not-clean money coming into Vancouver. Those factors have been bigger in Vancouver than Toronto.”