What to expect as Toronto's brief buyers' market ends

Plus, protesting on a 401 overpass and Ford's rules slowing home building [The Star] First Up [By Kevin Jiang] By Kevin Jiang Good morning. Here’s the latest on Toronto’s real estate market coming back to life, a ruling on highway 401 protesters and how one of Doug Ford’s housing initiatives appears to be backfiring. DON’T MISS R.J. Johnston/The Star real estate [Bye-bye buyers’ market — Toronto’s real estate market is roaring back to life]( Toronto’s real estate market appears to have kicked back into high gear after a sluggish fall saw home sales hit a multidecade low, Clarrie Feinstein reports. Home sales rose a whopping 37 per cent in January, according to new data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, while new listings grew 6.1 per cent. Because the city’s sales to new listings ratio now hovers around 50 per cent, the GTA has officially entered a balanced market. Experts expect demand from buyers to rise soon, with the Bank of Canada forecasting inflation to fall in 2024 — and with it, the interest rates that have been hammering some homeowners. [Here’s what you need to know](. - Who cares? Home buyers, evidently. [Bidding wars are already making a comeback in Toronto](. Prospective purchasers are hoping to cash in now before interest rates go down, driving prices and demand back up. - Another angle: [A record number of new condos are going unsold in the GTA](. Unsold inventory rising 41 per cent year-over-year in the last quarter, a recent study suggests. Pre-construction projects are faring similarly poorly. Richard Lautens/The Star courts [A judge has dismissed B’nai Brith’s injunction against 401 overpass protesters]( A judge has dismissed Jewish human rights group B’nai Brith’s motion to halt controversial demonstrations on a Highway 401 bridge overpass. In recent weeks, the bridge at Avenue Road and the 401 has become a microcosm of local tensions over the Israel-Hamas war, Ben Cohen reports, seeing demonstrators on both sides being arrested and regular police intervention needed to keep them apart. Jewish organizations including B’nai Brith have argued that, because the bridge is steps away from Jewish community centres and places of worship, pro-Palestinian protests near the overpass were designed to intimidate Jews in the area. But Superior Court Justice William Chalmers remained unconvinced the Jewish community truly felt threatened — [here’s why](. - Context: Toronto police have already banned protests on the bridge last month, arresting some demonstrators. [B’nai Brith’s injunction would expand the ban, preventing protests 500 metres north and south of the overpass](. - Why it matters: Hate crimes against Jews, Muslims, Palestinians and Arabs have more than doubled in Toronto since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, with the majority logged as antisemitic in nature, [Toronto police previously said](. Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star housing [Builders say Doug Ford’s new planning rule is actually slowing housing construction]( Premier Doug Ford’s new measures to fast-track housing in Ontario appear to be backfiring, resulting in slower, more expensive processes in some areas, building industry sources tell the Star’s Noor Javed. Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, has required municipalities to refund developers’ application fees if their plans aren’t approved within a certain number of days. Municipalities shot back by imposing pre-application meetings that can include lengthy checklists, fees and even public hearings (all of which can take months to navigate) before the clock begins. [Take a look at what’s happening and why](. - Go deeper: Introduced in 2022, Bill 109 introduced a slate of overhauls to municipal planning rules — while ignoring the 55 recommendations set out by the province’s own Housing Affordability Task Force. [Here’s a breakdown of the rules](. - The aftermath: Ontario housing minister Paul Calandra said the province is aware its new bill is “not having the positive impact we had hoped.” In December, Calandra announced a review of the problematic provision, promising: “If it does not help build homes, it will be replaced with a tool that does.” WHAT ELSE Should Canada stop oil and gas companies from [“falsely advertising” the supposed benefits of fossil fuels]( The federal green grants program to help create energy-efficient homes [came to a sudden end Monday](. London police have apologized for the [delayed charges in the world junior hockey sexual assault investigation](. [Melissa Merritt was no “accessory after the fact”]( to the Harrison family murders, the Crown has argued. Business insolvencies spiked 41 per cent as pandemic aid faded — [and experts say it’s just the “tip of the iceberg.”]( A car was allegedly clocked going nearly 200 km/h on Highway 403 in Mississauga — [and residents are outraged](. Limiting Ozempic for Ontarians on social assistance [has experts concerned about fairness](. [Here’s what we know so far about King Charles’ cancer diagnosis](. A familiar face returned to bury the Maple Leafs, [who might regret the All Star break](. TTC riders are [finally joining the GTA’s single-fare payment system.]( Take a look inside Celine Dion’s triumphant return at the Grammys — [and that Taylor Swift snub](. More than a decade after “Come From Away,” [Canadian musical theatre is finding its voice](. POV R.J. Johnston/The Star [I was wrong about Olivia Chow — and I am glad I was.]( CLOSE-UP Canadian Press/Shane Wilkie NOVA SCOTIA: A truck lies abandoned on a snow-swallowed street in Sydney after the province was hammered by one of its heaviest snowfalls in 20 years — [with more than a metre of white powder piling up in parts of the province](. The clean-up could take days, authorities say. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_208400). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. 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