![\"norm-kelly-toronto\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/norm-kelly-toronto.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: 6dad.ca<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Councillor Norm Kelly was running his own real estate brokerage when the Toronto housing market crashed in 1989.<\/p>\n What he remembers most isn\u2019t the lost commissions \u2014 it\u2019s the silence.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sitting in my office, and it didn\u2019t feel right, and I couldn\u2019t put my finger on it,\u201d says Kelly on a recent episode of #urbanizeTHIS<\/a>, a podcast from BuzzBuzzHome co-founder Matthew Slutsky and SpringRealty.ca<\/a> broker\/owner Ara Mamourian.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a while, I walked out into the hallway, cocked my head, and it suddenly hit me: the phones weren\u2019t ringing,\u201d the internet-famous Ward 40 councillor recalls.<\/p>\n The market had imploded. Or, as Kelly puts it, \u201cYou couldn\u2019t give properties away at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly weathered that storm and continued to run a RE\/MAX franchise, selling his assets in 1994, when he \u201creturned to public life,\u201d first as a Metro Toronto councillor.<\/p>\n \u201cI had the unique experience of the heights and depths,\u201d says Kelly, who had been an academic and a Member of Provincial Parliament before getting into the real estate game in the mid-\u201980s.<\/p>\n Some of Canada\u2019s big banks have started saying Toronto real estate is in a bubble once more. Asked how today\u2019s white-hot market compares to what he saw playing out in the \u201880s, Kelly doesn\u2019t use the \u201cB\u201d word but notes there\u2019s more competition for listings now.<\/p>\n \u201cBack in the day there might be another competitive offer, maybe two,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Home staging (sprucing up a home before taking it to market) used to be a rarity as well, and $250,000 could get you a \u201cpretty good\u201d home in Toronto, Kelly, whose @norm<\/a> Twitter handle has a 500,000-strong following, adds.<\/p>\n Last month, the city\u2019s average selling price was $859,186, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board.<\/p>\n Affordability concerns stemming from high home prices have led some to call for a tax on non-resident real estate investors. In the half-hour interview with #urbanizeTHIS, Kelly entertains talk of a foreign-buyer tax for the Toronto housing market.<\/p>\n He says the measure is worth considering but cautions there are potentially far-reaching unintended consequences of implementing a levy like that.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should look at it, but there\u2019s more at play when you\u2019re looking at making it harder for non-Canadians to invest in your city,\u201d Kelly notes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people that are investing in real estate \u2014 especially in residential real estate \u2014 are also people that are investing in businesses in your city.\u201d<\/p>\n Stream the full #urbanizeTHIS podcast below.<\/p>\n