Real estate groups lobby against calls for GTA

Calls for the implementation of a tax on foreign buyers of property in the Greater Toronto Area are "premature," said real estate groups. In letters to Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Toronto Mayor John Tory, the heads of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) and the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) say introducing such a tax would be "a knee-jerk reaction to a problem which we do not fully understand." The groups argue that more information is needed to get a better understanding of foreign buyer involvement in Toronto's housing market.