Foreign investment wakes up sleepy suburb

A quiet suburb of Toronto is becoming one of the fastest growing parts of the city having attracted the attention of foreign investors. The Star reports that North York’s Willowdale area is in high demand as the heat in the Toronto market spreads to the suburbs. The once sleepy suburb is now home to bidding wars, rising prices and a scramble for any available land that becomes available. Builders are finding that there are large profits to be had in Willowdale and elsewhere with teardowns of older $1 million homes resulting in $3 million sales figures for the rebuilds. The city council has seen a surge in builders requesting zoning changes and councillor John Filion told the Star that it’s like the Wild West: “We have bylaws for a reason and you are supposed to have a good reason to vary them, and a good reason isn’t because you want to make more money.”
 

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