Real Estate News - Impact Condo Investments

Bank of Canada lowers key interest rate to 2.25%, suggests it’s done cutting rates for now

The Bank of Canada lowered interest rates to 2.25 per cent on Wednesday, but cautioned that monetary policy can’t fix the structural economic damage caused by the U.S. trade war.

The central bank said it made the 25-basis-point cut as weakness ripples through the Canadian economy and with inflation expected to stay close to the bank’s two per cent target.

“For many months, we have been stressing that monetary policy cannot undo the damage caused by tariffs,” said Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem during a news conference in Ottawa.

Early signs suggest Canada’s economy barely managed any growth in third quarter: StatCan

Real gross domestic product declined 0.3 per cent in August and early signs suggest the economy barely managed any growth in the third quarter, Statistics Canada said Friday.

Goods-producing industries were down in August for the fifth time this year while the services side contracted for the first time in six months, StatCan said.

The agency said August’s decline mostly offsets a gain of 0.3 per cent in real GDP for July, which was revised a tick higher from earlier estimates. StatCan had initially expected flat growth for August in its advance estimate.

The agency said a work stoppage among Air Canada flight attendants hampered air transportation activity in August. That subsector was down 4.6 per cent in the month, marking its steepest decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.Drought conditions constrained hydroelectric power generation in the month, the agency said, throttling overall output from the utilities sector.

The wholesale trade industry and the mining and quarrying subsectors also posted declines, partially offset by growth in retail trade.

The tariff-sensitive manufacturing industry posted a decline of 0.5 per cent in August, but an early look at September’s real GDP figures show the sector might have rebounded last month.

Canada’s Mortgage Arrears Are Now Growing Faster Than The ’90s

Canada’s banks aren’t worried about mortgage arrears—but should they be? The arrears rate climbed again in August, according to the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA), which represents the country’s largest lenders. Investors have brushed off the rise as a return to normal after record lows. What they may not realize is that the late 1980s also saw a record low—followed by a long, painful climb. This time, it’s rising even faster.

September home sales up 5% as real estate association expects strong end to the year

OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association has upgraded its forecast for home sales in 2025, saying it now expects a softer decline this year as activity continues to rebound.

It comes as September home sales rose 5.2 per cent from a year ago, marking the most activity for the month since 2021.

There were 39,700 home sales across the country last month, up from 37,721 in September 2024.

The uptick is unsurprising, said Brendon Cowans, a sales representative for Toronto-based brokerage Property.ca, who said September’s interest rate cut has led to improved sentiment.

“I’m seeing slightly more activity, bidding wars are coming back in certain segments,” Cowans said.

November 4, 2025

Bidding wars creep back into some pockets of the GTA

Interest rate cuts may have improved market sentiment, but prices are still high

While the Greater Toronto Area’s fall housing market started slower than expected, signs of life emerged in some pockets of the GTA where more single-family homes were selling over asking.

According to Wahi’s latest analysis of overbidding and underbidding trends in the GTA in September, 8% of GTA neighbourhoods where at least five homes sold were in overbidding territory, up from just 1% in August.

Macklem says Canada’s jobs market is ‘soft’ despite September gain in positions

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said he sees the Canadian labour market as “soft” despite recent data that showed the country added 60,400 jobs in September.

In a callback to media from Washington, where he was attending meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Macklem noted the employment gain last month only partially reversed a job loss of more than 100,000 positions the previous two months, and called the data “volatile.”

Doug Ford may fully end rent control in Ontario

The Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, announced yesterday, proposes to remove regulatory barriers from the construction of homes, roads and infrastructure by amending over 40 provincial policies, including the Ontario Building Code, the provincial driver’s licensing system and, sure, why not, there’s some low-grade anti–bike lane propaganda in there too. (The act says it will “keep people and goods moving by prohibiting the reduction of vehicle lanes when municipalities install new bicycle lanes.”)

Understandably, it’s the Ford government’s proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act that really have Torontonians on edge. The province will explore changes to “security of tenure,” which allows tenants to remain in their units as long as they follow the conditions of their lease and abide by the RTA. Landlords aren’t allowed to evict tenants unless they have a legally valid reason.

Ontario bill would look at ‘alternative options’ for ending residential leases, scrap Toronto green roof bylaw. Here are the highlights

The province wants to explore the possibility of modifying “security of tenure,” currently enjoyed by tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). The current law means tenants have a right to remain in their rental unit as long as they follow the lease agreement and the RTA. Landlords cannot evict tenants without a legally valid reason under the current law and after a fixed-term lease ends, the tenancy typically continues on a month-to-month basis.

But the Ford government says it would like to consult on “alternative options on lease agreement expiry” that would give landlords more control over their units, “allowing them to adjust tenancy arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs, or business strategies.”

Downsview to host Canada’s first major modular housing project

Toronto’s Downsview lands are set to become the testing ground for one of Canada’s most ambitious housing experiments — a large-scale modular housing community backed by hundreds of millions in public funding and a plan to build faster, more affordable homes.

This week, federal and municipal leaders announced that the first Build Canada Homes project will rise on the former Downsview Airport site, a 210-hectare stretch of North York once home to military operations and aircraft manufacturing. Now envisioned as a “city within a city,” the redevelopment will eventually house more than 100,000 people.

October 2025 Toronto Housing Market Update: Trends and Insights

The Bank of Canada dropped rates to 4.25% in late September, and that little nudge was all it took. Suddenly, my phone’s ringing off the hook with clients who’ve been waiting for “the right time.” Spoiler alert: there’s never a perfect time, but right now? It’s definitely not a bad one.

Let me break down what we’re seeing across Toronto, Oakville, and Burlington without all the industry jargon. The average home price in the GTA is sitting at $1,247,000—up about 2.3% from last year. Not skyrocketing, not crashing. Just… steady. Which honestly feels like a relief after the rollercoaster of the past few years.