More than six in 10 Torontonians want to see the federal government apply cooling measures to the fevered housing market, says a new poll by Campaign Research.

The finding comes as the Toronto region continued to show double-digit price gains in the first three months of the year, according to a quarterly report by Royal LePage.

The poll also coincides with a meeting Tuesday between federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, his provincial counterpart Charles Sousa and Toronto Mayor John Tory. The three levels of government will discuss how to help balance the property market without stifling its economic benefits — something that requires extreme caution, according to some experts.

The poll results obtained by the Toronto Star, show that 58 per cent of Canadians and 64 per cent of Torontonians want Ottawa to intervene in the rising cost and steep competition for real estate.

"There's no doubt there definitely is an appetite among people in Toronto and British Columbia generally to see some movement of some form of government intervention," said Eli Yufest, CEO of Campaign Research.

The online study, conducted between April 3 and 11, shows younger people are most likely to support government intervention. About 70 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 35 agreed the government should step in. The reasons are obvious, said Yufest.

"They generally are the ones who finished school recently and they're just starting off in their careers and they probably don't have the funds to buy a house in Toronto,” he said. “So they're the ones who probably need the most support."

A foreign buyers tax, such as the one implemented last year in Vancouver, is the preferred mechanism for tamping down soaring prices, according to 39 per cent of national poll respondents.

A vacant homes tax is the best course according to 17 per cent of Torontonians, although only 13 per cent of Canadians favoured that option. Eleven per cent of all respondents favoured tighter mortgage rules. Seven per cent said the government should do nothing and 15 per cent said they didn't know.

The poll surveyed 1,970 respondents across Canada and is considered accurate within 2 per cent 19 times out of 20.

Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper doesn't support government intervention. But if they are going to act, politicians should avoid policies that are aimed only at tempering prices and, instead, consider measures that have broader objectives, he said.

"If we decide as a society that it is better for Toronto that homes be occupied by renters or owners and, if people are leaving them vacant, we should encourage them not to and impose a tax. If they still don't want to, it fills the coffers," he said.

"You can't do it just to manipulate prices because these measures have been shown to have an immaterial or short-term impact on home prices," he said.

Vancouver, the most obvious example of foreign buyer and vacant home taxes, is showing signs of rebounding, said Soper.

His company's House Price Survey shows that after seven months of falling real estate values in Vancouver, buyers appear ready to re-enter the market. Soper says the correction cycle could be over as early as this summer.

"In the coming weeks, it is possible that six months of pent-up demand will be unleashed on the market, sending prices sharply upward again," he said.

In the Toronto region, where home prices climbed 20 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017, the median price of a two-storey home rose to $894,919 from $734,414 last year. Bungalows went to $752,114, from $630,444 in the first quarter of 2016, according to the Royal LePage report.

Price rises were particularly intense in communities outside Toronto. Richmond Hill had the largest first-quarter aggregate price (comprising two-storey homes, bungalows and condominiums) increase of 31.5 per cent to about $1.3 million.

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International interest helped push aggregate prices up 26 per cent in Markham, said the real estate company’s report.

"Despite sellers beginning to decide to cash in on current rates of appreciation in the region, an extreme pre-existing lack of inventory has helped home values jump higher," it said.

But Scarborough remained one of the most affordable areas outside of Toronto's downtown. Its aggregate price climbed to $625,487 in the first quarter, a 17.3 per cent year-over-year increase.

Help with housing: Poll

63%

Toronto-area respondents agree the federal government should intervene to cool housing prices in major cities. That compares to 50 per cent of those on the Prairies and 58 per cent on average nationally.

65%

Canadians aged 18 to 44, who agreed the government should try and cool the property markets, compared to 52% of those over age 44.

41%

Canadians with incomes between $20,000 and $60,000 per year, who believe the government should impose a foreign buyers tax, compared to 38% of those with an annual income over $60,000.