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The Raptors Will Cause Toronto Real Estate Prices To Go Up

For years the rest of Canada has had a strong dislike for everything Toronto. I don’t know why, I personally love the rest of Canada, but it was known that those feelings were not reciprocal. Even though 1/6 of the country’s population lies within the GTA, the rest of Canada looked at us as the black sheep and felt we were spoiled for getting too much attention. If the Leafs ever made a playoff run, not many outside of Ontario even gave a damn. But we first started to see a real change a few years ago, when the Blue Jays made a deep run in the playoffs. The rest of Canada was tuning in and they weren’t just Toronto’s team, they were Canada’s team.

Jurassic Park for Raptors in Toronto
A portion of Jurassic Park before Game 2 in downtown Toronto

Fast forward a few years, thousands of bidding wards, steep price increases and more, I believe these runs in sport really put the city on the map for many around the Country and the world. Toronto was now cool and the place to be in Canada for the younger generations. And while I think it has helped contribute to the demand of people wanting to move here, I don’t think we are ready for the additional demand that will come from this historic run that the Raptors are having in the NBA Finals.

Who would have thought that this old “hockey country” would have one in four citizens tuning in to watch BASKETBALL? Raptors mania is sweeping across the country, there were huge outdoor parties all over including Halifax, Saskatoon had a viewing party and even Montrealers lined the streets!

Doesn't matter if you can't make out what these rabid Mtlers are saying. This could be ..Historic.....Btw they were chanting #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/UyTuzoz2A2
— Antoni Nerestant (@AntoniNerestant) June 11, 2019

So how does this all affect real estate?

Real Estate is driven by supply and demand, and as I have said for years I believe the biggest factors driving Toronto’s unstoppable real estate market are immigration and migration. People WANT to come to Toronto ever so more each time we are hoisted up on the World’s stage. People want to live where their favourite teams play, where they might bump into their favourite musicians or actors on the streets and where the fun is happening. Right now that is Toronto. So right now you have a bunch of kids growing up in small towns across the country (and even the World as NBA is enjoyed all over, not just North America) who will eventually leave their small towns or cities to go find work in a few years and given all the choices out there, Toronto will likely rank pretty high on their list.

There is no better PR for a city than a successful sports environment so if Kawhi stays and we can keep doing this for a few more years then don’t expect prices to slow down any time in this city. When people think of Canada, Toronto will be the first thing to come to mind. We The North.

Let’s Go Raptors!!!!