{"id":575193,"date":"2026-04-01T13:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/575193\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T13:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:20:09","slug":"in-a-rattled-real-estate-market-sellers-look-optimistically-to-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/575193\/","title":{"rendered":"In a rattled real estate market, sellers look optimistically to spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Rishi Sondhi predicts the Canadian housing market will need most of the year to make up the ground it lost during the first quarter of 2026.Graeme Roy\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Real estate watchers in Canada often feel their most buoyant as the spring market reaches prime time. This year, the atmosphere is filled with suspense.<\/p>\n

In Toronto, real estate agents are watching for a building surge in properties for sale as sellers gear up to list in the days after Easter and Passover holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pipeline is there, definitely,\u201d says Andre Kutyan, broker at Harvey Kalles Real Estate, of the fresh supply.<\/p>\n

The question many are asking is whether warmer temperatures and a stretch of time without a long weekend will galvanize more buyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt almost feels like the year hasn\u2019t started yet,\u201d says Mr. Kutyan.<\/p>\n

Agents tend toward optimism, he says, but blaming blustery weather and a string of holidays \u2013 from Family Day through Easter \u2013 for the downward trend in sales becomes more difficult farther into the spring.<\/p>\n

Seller tests several asking prices for renovated East York house<\/a><\/p>\n

As March came to a close, Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Rishi Sondhi steeply downgraded his 2026 forecast for housing resales and price growth across Canada.<\/p>\n

Mr. Sondhi says in his latest provincial housing market outlook that weaker-than-expected activity in the fourth quarter of last year carried into the first quarter of this year amid a subdued economy, heightened uncertainty and ongoing cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

The economist predicts the Canadian market will need most of the year to make up ground lost in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Ontario and British Columbia saw the sharpest decreases to the forecast as sales remain stuck at low levels. <\/p>\n

Pent-up demand has yet to emerge, Mr. Sondhi notes, adding that further price declines may be needed to unlock it.<\/p>\n

Looking at the sales-to-new-listings ratio, the condo segment in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is still the slice where buyers have the greatest leverage, Mr. Sondhi says, adding that excess supply needs to be absorbed before prices stabilize.<\/p>\n

By the same measure, the second-weakest tranche is the broader GTA and surrounding commuter belt.<\/p>\n

In the GTA, homebuyers can drive a hard bargain<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s followed by Southern Ontario\u2019s cottage country, where the sales-to-new-listings ratio shows is slanted towards buyers in areas such as Muskoka, the Kawartha Lakes, Grey-Bruce, Owen Sound and Peterborough.<\/p>\n

Mr. Sondhi notes that the market is somewhat firmer in Eastern Ontario and considerably tighter in Northern Ontario.<\/p>\n

The economist expects interest rates to be a neutral factor for the outlook in 2026. He points out that Canada\u2019s population declined last year for the first time since Confederation, driven by losses in Ontario and B.C.<\/p>\n

The outlook is less gloomy in the Prairie and Atlantic Provinces.<\/p>\n

The economist says another change since his December forecast is the surge in oil prices amidst conflict in the Middle East. He stresses that nobody knows how the situation will evolve \u2013 and prices may moderate \u2013 but Mr. Sondhi predicts oil prices will remain higher than his previous outlook.<\/p>\n

Higher energy prices are positive for home price growth in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland but may sap purchasing power in some other parts of the country, which could weigh on demand, he adds.<\/p>\n

Updated Toronto townhouse finds pricing sweet spot at under $1-million<\/a><\/p>\n

In Toronto, Mr. Kutyan sees ongoing indecision amongst potential buyers.<\/p>\n

One client who works in finance recently paused his plan to trade up after six months of looking for homes in Rosedale, Moore Park and nearby areas.<\/p>\n

The client pointed to economic uncertainty as the reason for staying in his existing townhouse for another year or so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a perfect example of buyer sentiment these days,\u201d says Mr. Kutyan.<\/p>\n

During March Mr. Kutyan observed a spike not only in listings but in presentations to homeowners who are pondering a sale.<\/p>\n

He launched a handful of properties in midtown Toronto as soon as March break ended for private and public schools. He has four more that will hit the market in the days after Easter and Passover.<\/p>\n

He advises sellers to plant the \u201cFor Sale\u201d sign when there are few listings on surrounding streets.<\/p>\n

He recently launched a five-bedroom detached house in Lytton Park with an asking price of $6.995-million.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m priced aggressively,\u201d he says of the home at 264 Cortleigh Blvd., which has a backyard pool and 6,600 square feet of living space. Other recently built homes in the area had asking prices up to $10-million at the time he brought the property to market.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The five-bedroom detached house at 264 Cortleigh Blvd. has an asking price of $6.995-million.McNeill Photography<\/p>\n

In midtown Toronto, 93 new listings for freehold properties landed on the market in the first two days after March break, he says, looking at the stats south of Highway 401 and north of St. Clair Avenue.<\/p>\n

In that time period, there were seven firm sales and five conditional sales in that swath of the city, which includes such neighbourhoods as Rosedale, Moore Park, the Annex, Lawrence Park and Forest Hill.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some companies that prepare homes for listing with high-end furniture and d\u00e9cor are offering a second month free, he says, as \u201cdays on market\u201d stretch out for many properties.<\/p>\n

But while some properties languish, sellers in hot pockets continue to draw multiple offers and premiums to the asking price.<\/p>\n

In Toronto\u2019s east end, where frequent bidding wars have erupted, sellers of a three-bedroom semi-detached house drew 11 offers after listing the property in Leslieville with an asking price of $1.099-million.<\/p>\n

Home sellers pull out the stops as buyers wait for a market bottom<\/a><\/p>\n

Robyn Muise, real estate agent with Royal LePage Signature Realty, says the house at 119 Alton Ave. sold for $1.471-million, or $372,000 above asking.<\/p>\n

In the city\u2019s west end, a three-bedroom semi-detached house with an asking price of $1.489-million in the High Park-Swansea area drew 17 rival bidders.<\/p>\n

Listing agent Rahim Jaffer of Sage Real Estate says the top three bidders returned to the table for a second round and the home at 20 Verbena Ave. sold for $1.852-million.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jaffer says the property is the type of fully renovated home that attracts the most action from buyers these days.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jaffer has noticed an influx of listings in the area between the Annex and the Kingsway, south of St. Clair, with 50 freehold properties landing the day after March break and an additional 37 the day after that.<\/p>\n

In many years, a jump in listings as the spring market ramps up tends to cool the fervour around offer dates as buyers see more choice.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jaffer is preparing to list a bungalow, a semi and a condo townhouse in the coming weeks. He will wait to finalize the marketing strategy and asking price for each until he sees how quickly the inventory which arrived at the end of March is absorbed, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be very interesting to see what happens in the next 45 days,\u201d he says of buyer psychology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Rishi Sondhi predicts the Canadian housing market will need most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,2922,166909,968,3302,68619],"class_list":{"0":"post-575193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-noastack","11":"tag-ontario-real-estate","12":"tag-real-estate","13":"tag-toronto","14":"tag-toronto-real-estate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}