The King Realty Group

Many Canadian retirees are putting their downsizing plans on hold as softer home prices, limited housing options, and rising living costs make selling less appealing in today’s market. According to industry experts and survey data from RE/MAX Canada, a growing number of seniors are choosing to remain in larger homes because they cannot find smaller properties that suit their lifestyle needs, particularly as many newer condos were designed for investors rather than long-term living. Financial concerns are also playing a major role, with some retirees worried that falling property values could reduce the equity they planned to rely on in retirement, while Realtor fees, land transfer taxes, renovations, and moving costs can consume a significant portion of sale proceeds. Many older Canadians are also helping support younger family members through ongoing affordability challenges, further delaying retirement and relocation decisions. While experts believe a larger downsizing wave will eventually emerge as Canada’s population ages, many retirees currently feel that selling simply isn’t worth it in the current market environment.

Source: The Star

New condo apartment sales in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area plunged to just 1,599 units in 2025 — the lowest level in 35 years, according to a new report from Urbanation, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline and a collapse of 91 per cent below the 10-year average. Sales were down 60 per cent from 2024 and 95 per cent compared to the 2021 peak, with no improvement seen in the fourth quarter, which recorded the weakest quarterly sales since 1990. Developers responded by cancelling a record 28 projects totaling 7,243 units, more than double last year’s cancellations, while launching only 10 new condo projects in all of 2025. As investors moved to the sidelines and more buyers failed to close, developers took back roughly 10 per cent of pre-sold units, pushing completed and unsold inventory to a record high of nearly 4,000 units. While some cancelled projects shifted to purpose-built rentals, condo starts fell to multidecade lows, raising concerns that today’s slowdown could trigger a severe new-condo supply shortage later this decade, with deliveries expected to drop sharply after 2026 and nearly vanish by 2029.

Source: The Star

Canada’s real estate market has entered a “long and slow grind” toward affordability, according to BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic, with little momentum for a meaningful rebound in 2026. While home prices are down roughly 17% from their early-2022 peak and borrowing costs have eased, housing remains unaffordable for many because incomes have not kept pace, a process that will take years. Investors who fueled the previous boom have largely abandoned the market, immigration has been capped, and millennials are aging out of peak buying years, all contributing to subdued demand. Prices have stabilized in some cities since spring 2025, but Kavcic believes they still have further to fall, particularly in condos and rentals, where oversupply, struggling pre-construction buyers, and softer rents are creating pressure. At the same time, the scarcity of three- and four-bedroom family homes continues to support prices in that segment. With a wide gap between seller expectations and buyer bids, Kavcic expects sellers to gradually relent, leading to continued negotiations, sideways pricing, and a market defined by patience rather than optimism, where buyers proceed cautiously and only commit if they truly plan to stay long term.

Source; The Global and Mail

Canada’s rental market is showing clear signs of increased supply, but affordability remains deeply strained. According to CMHC’s 2025 Rental Report, the national vacancy rate rose to 3.1% in October 2025, a four-year high and a 40% faster increase than rental demand, driven by both improving supply and cooling population growth following immigration caps. Surprisingly, the largest vacancy gains are occurring in historically tight markets, with Toronto reaching a 3.0% vacancy rate—its highest since the pandemic—and Vancouver climbing to 3.7%, a level not seen since 2000. Despite this shift, rents continue to rise: the average two-bedroom apartment cost $1,550 in 2025, up 5.1% year over year, far exceeding wage growth of 3.5% and the Bank of Canada’s inflation target. While rent growth has slowed slightly in Toronto and Vancouver, it has accelerated in traditionally more affordable cities like Halifax and Montreal, shrinking the cost gap between large and smaller markets. As a result, Canada has moved from a shortage-driven rental crisis to an affordability-driven one, and with a wave of new rental completions expected, the coming months may determine whether rents finally cool or remain stubbornly elevated.

Source: Better Dwelling