Toronto's housing supply crunch was on fully display again last month. The Toronto Real Estate Board says new listings of properties available for sale dropped 12.5 per cent year-over-year in February and the total inventory of active listings plummeted 50.5 per cent. That dearth of inventory for house hunters to choose from led to more sticker shock as the average selling price rose 27.7 per cent to $875,983.

And so, the debate rages on about what needs to be done about affordability in Canada’s largest city. Recall BMO declared a “bubble” last month, while Toronto Mayor John Tory was quick to say he’s not going to hit the “panic button.” Today we will try to address how much time policymakers, builders and lenders have to address the situation. We’re expecting to have John Tory on The Business News during the noon hour.  

PLACE YOUR FED BETS

After a parade of Fed officials all but handed investors an envelope with the decision for the central bank’s March 15 decision, today we hear from the FOMC’s most senior officials. Vice-Chair Stanley Fischer speaks at 12:30 p.m. ET. Janet Yellen’s up a half hour later.

As Kit Juckes puts it in his note to Societe Generale clients this morning, that’s when she “either endorses the market's embrace of a March rate hike, or puts a huge cat in among the pigeons.”

Implied probability of a hike has reached 88 per cent. It stood at 40 per cent just a week ago. The market shakeout has dragged gold into a fourth day of losses, which is bested by the Canadian dollar’s five-day skid. It dropped as low as US$0.7554 today, the currency’s weakest level since Jan 4.

OANDA Senior Market Analyst Craig Erlam warned in his morning note that we’re basically into put up or shut up territory for the Fed: “The risk is that the Fed raises expectations too high for March and doesn’t deliver which will once again have people questioning its credibility.”

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BNN ADVISOR

4 ways to hire better and keep staff happy in 2017

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FORTIS BOSS WARNS OF BUYERS STRIKE AFTER TAKEOVER SPREE

Canadian utility companies have plowed head-first into the U.S. market over the last year or so, but one of those companies that went shopping is warning uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax plan is going to cast a chill on takeover activity. “I think firms are going to be a little bit skeptical of acquisitions,” Fortis CEO Barry Perry told Greg Bonnell yesterday afternoon. Fortis bought Michigan-based ITC Holdings for US$6.9 billion last year. 

BUSINESS LEADERS DESCEND ON VANCOUVER

BNN is into a second day of coverage from the Young Presidents’ Organization conference in Vancouver. Today, we’ve got Segway Inventor Dean Kamen, HuffPo Founder Arianna Huffington and Gravity Payments Founder Dan Price on tap. Price, you’ll recall, garnered recognition last year after setting a US$70,000 minimum wage at his company.

RELEASES/EVENTS:

- Notable earnings: TransAlta, GMP Capital, Transcontinental

- Notable data: ISM U.S. services index (10 a.m. ET)

- 11 a.m. ET: Bill Morneau announcement and media avail at Ryerson

- 11:30 a.m. ET: Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr announcement and avail at University of Manitoba

- 12:30 a.m. ET: Fed Vice-Chair Stanley Fischer delivers speech in New York

- 1 p.m. ET: Fed Chair Janet Yellen delivers speech in Chicago

- 1:30 p.m. ET: Justin Trudeau holds media availability in Vancouver

- 2:30 p.m. ET: Trudeau participates in Q&A at Young Presidents Organization EDGE conference in Vancouver

- 2:45 p.m. ET: Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins delivers panel remarks at Yale Law School 

Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Today's note was written by BNN's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnn.ca/subscribe