That’s a distant prospect, according to Shawn Stillman (pictured top), broker and co-founder at the Toronto-based Mortgage Outlet. He told Canadian Mortgage Professional that those who wished to purchase were already trying – and that the inventory issue in the province’s housing market represented a significant hurdle.

“Anybody who wanted to buy has been trying. There’s just not the supply,” he said. “There’s just not enough product; you’ve seen a lot of frothiness in the market, and I don’t see these next three weeks as going to change anything.”

That sentiment on lack of supply was echoed by RBC, with Hogue saying that there had never been a greater need for more inventory in the housing market.

“This became clearly evident in the past year with bidding wars springing up in places that have rarely or never seen them before, and intensifying in places more accustomed to them,” he noted in the report. “Until demand and supply return closer to balance, prices will continue to rise.”

Stillman said he could see prices increasing by a further 10-20% this year as a result of that supply-demand imbalance, with little indication that the provincial or federal governments will act to address the issue in a meaningful way.