One of the fallouts I have been thinking about lately is the potentially huge drop in land transfer taxes in Toronto should the housing market stall, let alone crash. I would think that the $40,000+ per home that the average detached house sale is generating in land transfer tax is a major component of the Toronto (and provincial) budget. I can imagine the shock to Toronto's finances when this dries up. Even with the large amounts from these taxes Toronto cannot afford a proper transit system.  I am unfamiliar with Vancouver taxes, but imagine they have something similar.