The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) recently released some fascinating statistics on the real estate market. Essentially, they are flagging the ancillary value of housing transactions…the benefits to the wider economy, that are above and beyond the value derived from the people specifically involved in any given sale.

So, what are we doing for the GDP of our country? Well, in Ontario, every time a home is sold, there is spinoff spending of more than $73,000. There are general housing purchases, furniture and appliance purchases, moving costs, renovations, services like legal and accounting, and all their associated taxes. Keep in mind, this number is Ontario-wide. If we isolated Toronto only, it would be much higher.

What about jobs? Well, pre-pandemic, resale housing activity created more than 106,000 jobs per year. Manufacturing, construction, trade, professional services, FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate) and professional services were all buoyed by resale activity. It will be interesting to see these figures post-2021, after what is expected to be a record year for resale.

And finally, there’s government revenue. Home sales produce substantial tax revenues for federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, these government revenues totalled roughly $5.9 billion annually in Ontario.  Land transfer taxes led the way, at nearly $2.4 billion per year.

Housing, with all the spinoff activities, is one of the greatest economic drivers our country has for both tax generation and spending. When you delve deeper into the numbers, it’s amazing to see the value our industry is providing to the lives of Canadians.