Real estate experts say competition among lenders is expected to rise following a move by Canada’s banking regulator to officially remove stress test requirements for some homeowners looking to switch mortgage lenders at renewal.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced Thursday that uninsured mortgage straight switches will be exempt from the minimum qualifying rate (MQR). OSFI previously stated in September that it would ease stress test requirements for uninsured mortgages when switching providers, stating its intentions at the time to formally communicate the change in its Nov. 21 quarterly release.

“This eliminates a barrier that previously prevented borrowers from accessing better rates. The new rule will foster a more competitive lending environment where consumers have greater freedom to choose the best mortgage product, encouraging lenders to offer more attractive terms to retain customers,” Leah Zlatkin, a licensed mortgage broker and LowestRates.ca expert, said in a statement Thursday.

The annual headline inflation rate for October climbed to 2.0%, exceeding the 1.9% economists had predicted and up from September’s 1.6% reading. The increase was largely due to higher gas prices, property taxes, and base-year effects, which can distort year-over-year comparisons.

And while fluctuations in the headline reading aren’t unusual, the ‘core’ inflation measures that strip out more volatile items like food and energy prices also ticked up in the month.

As a result, bond markets reduced the odds of a follow-up 50-basis-point rate cut at the Bank’s December 11 policy meeting to 23%, down from nearly 40% before the inflation report.

“This heavy result should take some more steam out of the call for another 50-bps rate cut from the Bank of Canada in December,” wrote Douglas Porter, Chief Economist at BMO. “We have been in the 25-bps camp from the start and this report only reinforces that expectation, along with evidence that housing is stirring, the Fed will turn more cautious, and a limping loonie.”

A new incentive program designed to add as many as 20,000 new purpose-built rental housing units to the City of Toronto — including 7,000 through a municipally-funded first phase — is being scrutinized by development sector stakeholders, many of whom are wary that it doesn’t have the legs to make a meaningful impact.

Made public at the end of October and approved at Wednesday’s City Council meeting in a 23-1 vote, the program is called the Purpose-built Rental Homes Incentives Stream and, at a high level, it pairs qualifying projects with certain perks, including “an indefinite deferral” of development charges (so long as they remain rental in tenure), a “recommended” property tax reduction of 15% for 35 years, and foregone taxes and fees for affordable rental units.

After Toronto and Vancouver real estate boards posted striking year-over-year increases in home sales for October — 44% and over 30%, respectively — it appears they’re not alone, as the Canadian Real Estate Organization (CREA) reported Friday that nationwide sales in October were the highest they’ve been since April 2022.

All in all, sales rose 7.7% on a month-over-month basis and a grew a substantial 30% from October 2023, on a not-seasonally-adjusted basis. In comparison, sales only rose 1.9% month-over-month in September and 1.3% in August, representing a potential breaking of the ‘holding pattern’ that has characterized the last several months, despite consecutive rate cuts.

When Mehrdad Khayeri bought his dream house in the Greater Toronto Area earlier this year, he scored a big bonus: nearly $35,000 back. It was a perk he negotiated through a cashback agreement with his real estate agent.

“My wife and I did the bulk of the heavy lifting,” Khayeri said, describing how they found most of the listings that interested them. “With so many online tools nowadays, like House Sigma and MLS … the [agents] are actually doing maybe less work.”

His agent still earned 2.5 per cent commission on the sale price for helping him buy the home but gave about three-quarters of the fee to Khayeri. It’s a practice that could become more common as homebuyers push back on commissions that have soared alongside housing prices over the past few years.

Canadian real estate prices continued its downtrend last month, printing even larger losses. Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) data shows the price of a benchmark (typical) home fell in October, despite a surge in sales. Prices continued to grind lower and are now similar to where they were 3 years ago. Surging home sales are an encouraging sign of a return to market normalization, but several issues make it unclear if this trend will stick around. 

CREA’s benchmark price shows a typical home made an even sharper drop last month. The composite fell 0.8% (-$5,500 ) lower to $707,700 in October, following a 0.6% (-$4,600) drop in September. This marks the sixth consecutive monthly drop, with prices 2.7% (-$19,800) lower than last year. Home prices remain where they were roughly 3 years ago, even with backward-looking revisions to the index. 

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board showed increases in sales and prices in many areas in October. In Mississauga, the average home price increased 3.2 per cent to $1,081,951 and sales were up 27 per cent.

Monthly home sales climbed in the GTA on a month-over-month basis in both September and October for the first time since 2020, when the market was in overdrive during the pandemic, according to digital real estate platform Wahi.

Experts believe Bank of Canada rate cuts are behind the increased sales activity. “The real test will be next year’s spring market,” says Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen. “It’s still too early to tell what the cumulative effects of the Bank of Canada’s rate cuts will be on the GTA’s real estate market.”