With the looming threat of a "double dip" recession,  George Carras, president of RealNet Canada points  out some Toronto real estate  facts and figures that gives us  hope that things are not at all that bad after all:

• Each year, the Greater Toronto Area sees an influx of 80,000-100,000 newcomers, the size of a city like Fredericton, New Brunswick
• Canada is seen as a country that is politically, economically and socially stable so we welcome 200,000 to 300,000 people from around the world annually
• People have to live somewhere and over the next 20-25 years, the GTA will need to create some 900,000 to 1 million housing units
• In order to keep up with this demand, we need to add approximately 40,000 housing units per year
• In June low-rise (detached homes, semis, townhouses) supplies were at a record low level of 6,819 units and shrinking
• Present supply of new low-rise homes in the GTA is at an all-time low, with just 4.6 months' worth of inventory at current absorption rates
• Purpose-built rental buildings are almost non-existent
• GTA's entire high-rise (condos) development industry has been working at full capacity over the last five years but have not been able to produce more than 15,789 units in a given year
• High-rise (condos) inventories have dropped to a record low level as well.  Adding up all available units in all the condo projects in the market and nothing new is introduced, we'd run out of inventories in just six months.

As George Carras says, the key to success in real estate is knowledge.  We hope that in our own little way, we are able to share some useful information with you so that you can make better decisions.