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REM Bot

Content by REM Bot has been created with the assistance of AI. Audio and video interviews, conducted by our team with real people, are transcribed and repurposed into text for those who prefer reading. REM Bot articles are reviewed by staff before publication to ensure factual accuracy and maintain editorial standards.

The post The Canadian Real Estate October Market Breakdown appeared first on REM.

Related Posts

Foch: A market in full correction

Nov 5, 2025

October’s TRREB data paints a picture of a housing market still in retreat — where even falling prices can’t lure buyers back

read more

Team spotlight: Q&A with the Rob Golfi Team

Nov 5, 2025

With more than $670 million in sales volume in 2024 and nearly $423 million year-to-date in 2025, the Golfi Team dominates markets across southern Ontario.

read more

The Price Change Playbook: How top agents stay in control when listings stall

Nov 5, 2025

Unlock the secrets of top agents who navigate price changes with confidence and strategy. Learn how to keep control when listings stall and maintain client trust.

read more

« Older Entries

REM Bot

Content by REM Bot has been created with the assistance of AI. Audio and video interviews, conducted by our team with real people, are transcribed and repurposed into text for those who prefer reading. REM Bot articles are reviewed by staff before publication to ensure factual accuracy and maintain editorial standards.

The post The Canadian Real Estate September Market Breakdown appeared first on REM.

The August 2025 report, released Tuesday, shows apartment-style condos and row-style homes are seeing the sharpest drops, while detached and semi-detached properties are posting only modest declines.

The unadjusted total residential benchmark price was $577,200 in last month, down four per cent from August 2024.

“Perspective is needed when it comes to price adjustments,” said CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie, adding that high-density housing like row and apartment-style homes are seeing the biggest drops as those categories are seeing the biggest gains in supply.

“Meanwhile price adjustments in the detached and semi-detached markets range from modest price growth in some areas to larger price declines in areas with large supply growth. Overall, recent price adjustments have not offset all the gains that have occurred over the past several years,” said Lurie.

Unadjusted benchmark prices for row houses were down five per cent year-over-year in August, while condo prices slid six per cent. Detached at semi-detached prices remain flat from 2024.

Sales slow, but remain above longterm trend

August sales reached 1,989, nearly nine per cent lower than the same month last year. Sales activity has eased compared to the highs of the past four years but remains above long-term trends, pointing to ongoing strong demand.

The notable change lies in supply. Elevated new listings have kept the sales-to-new-listings ratio below 60 per cent, pushing inventory to 6,661 units — the highest August level since 2019.

With more choices available and slower sales, months of supply rose to 3.4 in August. This marks a significant shift from the seller’s market conditions of the past four years, though levels remain well below the buyer’s market seen before the pandemic.

While the market overall is more balanced compared to last year, conditions continue to vary depending on property type, price range and location.

The post Calgary row houses, condos under price pressure: CREB appeared first on REM.

Don’t miss out—join us online for REM’s monthly market breakdown on Aug. 26 at 2 PM ET. REM, columnist Daniel Foch will analyze CREA’s latest stats, regional variations and what shifting sentiment means for Realtors—register here.

The headlines are loud again. Home sales are up double digits. Buyers are back. Market is heating up. But if you’re reading that and assuming we’ve returned to boom times in the Greater Toronto Area housing market, take a step back and squint a little. The numbers tell a different story. And in this business, it’s the fine print, not the front page, that tells you where things are headed.

Yes, sales are up. But from where?

A low tide makes for easy gains

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) July 2025 report touts a 10.9 per cent year-over-year increase in sales. That’s true. But let’s not pretend this is a return to 2021. We’re comparing this year’s performance to a brutally slow July in 2024. Gains from a low base can feel impressive on paper but are thin when stretched across the market’s broader context.

Prices are still down. Inventory is piling up. And homes are taking longer to sell. Those aren’t hallmarks of a market in full swing, but signals of a fragile rebound struggling to find its footing.

Prices down, affordability up… for now

The average home price in the GTA sits at $1,051,719, down 5.5 per cent from last July. Detached homes are down 5.1 per cent, condos down a staggering 9.3 per cent. These certainly aren’t rounding errors. They’re meaningful corrections.

But here’s where it gets interesting: as prices fall, affordability improves, at least on the surface. And this shift has attracted interest from buyers who may have been sidelined during the market’s peak. That’s part of why sales are ticking upward. People aren’t chasing the market. They’re entering it because it finally came back to them.

However, affordability is a slippery word in this environment. Rates haven’t meaningfully dropped. Mortgage qualification is still tight. And for every buyer who enters, there’s another household staying on the sidelines, unsure if this is truly the bottom.

Supply outpacing demand

The stat I’m watching closely? Active listings are up 26.2 per cent year-over-year. That’s massive. There are now over 30,000 homes on the market across the GTA, more than we’ve seen in several years.

Meanwhile, new listings rose by only 5.7 per cent year-over-year (lesser than June’s uptick). So where’s the jump in active inventory coming from? It’s not new supply. It’s old supply that’s sitting longer. And that points to a demand-side problem.

Homes aren’t moving like they used to (recall 2021). The average time a home sits on market (LDOM) has jumped by 25 per cent year-over-year. Properties are lingering. The majority of buyers are still hesitant.

Condo carnage and suburban softness

If you’re holding a pre-construction condo right now, you don’t need a market report to tell you what’s happening. You’re feeling it in your inbox: assignment listings, price drops, incentives. The condo market is taking the brunt of the correction.

Condos in the 905 area saw prices drop over 10 per cent. Even in the core, where demand tends to be more resilient, prices slipped nearly 9 per cent. That’s a sharp fall for a segment that once promised endless investor upside.

Townhouses and semis, long regarded as middle-market staples, saw year-over-year price drops of 7.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively. Detached homes, down 5.4 per cent, landed squarely between the two.

What we’re seeing is a broad-based softness, not a sector-specific slump. Every major home type is feeling the chill.

A market without momentum

The problem isn’t that buyers don’t want to buy. It’s that the market lacks conviction. There’s no urgency. When rates were low and prices were climbing, hesitation was costly. Today, waiting is rewarded.

That shift in psychology is powerful. It rewires the market’s metabolism. Buyers negotiate harder. Sellers reduce expectations. And the entire transaction cycle drags out.

In markets like these, volume can rise, just as it did in July, but that volume is often more reactive than proactive. It’s opportunistic. Buyers are bottom fishing.

So, is this the bottom?

Maybe. But bottoms in real estate are rarely sharp, and they almost never announce themselves. More often, they flatten out like a tired breath. What July gave us was a market trying to stabilize, not one bursting back to life.

The real momentum will come when two things align:

1. Interest rates ease meaningfully, unlocking credit and restoring confidence.
2. Sellers recalibrate expectations to match what buyers can actually afford.

Until then, we’ll keep seeing this kind of sideways movement. A little more volume. A little less price. A few more listings. A few more delays.

It’s not a crash. It’s not a boom. It’s a slow digestion.

Policy smoke and mirrors

TRREB’s commentary on the foreign buyer ban is worth noting. While many Canadians believe foreign investment is locked out, that’s not entirely true. Exemptions exist for multi-unit properties, development land, and rural housing.

But let’s be clear: foreign buyers aren’t driving this market and their absence isn’t what’s causing the slowdown. Domestic affordability, debt levels, and rate sensitivity are doing that all on their own.

Blaming or praising foreign policy tweaks won’t change the fundamentals.

Clarity in the noise

This market isn’t easy to read. The data gives us mixed signals. The headlines bounce between optimism and doom. But when you strip away the noise, one thing becomes clear:

We’re in the hangover phase.

The excesses of 2021 and 2022 are still being worked out. Some households are over-leveraged. Others are still underhoused. Prices have corrected, but the economic backdrop remains uncertain, especially with the Canadian economy “treading water” as TRREB puts it.

This isn’t a market to fear. But it’s not one to chase either. It’s a time to observe, to act selectively, and to resist the spin.

Final word

Don’t mistake a flicker for a flame. July gave us a pulse, not a comeback. If you’re in the market, buying, selling or advising, your edge right now is in understanding nuance. Look past the headlines. Study the inventory. Watch the clock.

And above all, stay disciplined.

The market rewards patience. Always has.

Daniel Foch

Daniel Foch is the Chief Real Estate Officer at Valery.ca, and Host of Canada’s #1 real estate podcast. As co-founder of The Habistat, the onboard data science platform for TRREB & Proptx, he helped the real estate industry to become more transparent, using real-time housing market data to inform decision making for key stakeholders. With over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry, Daniel has advised a broad spectrum of real estate market participants, from 3 levels of government to some of Canada’s largest developers.

Daniel is a trusted voice in the Canadian real estate market, regularly contributing to media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CBC, Bloomberg, and The Globe and Mail. His expertise and balanced insights have earned him a dedicated audience of over 100,000 real estate investors across multiple social media platforms, where he shares primary research and market analysis.

The post Why rising sales don’t mean Toronto real estate is back: Foch appeared first on REM.

According to Altus Group, this ongoing sales collapse threatens to stall Toronto’s housing pipeline and wipe out over 40,000 construction-related jobs if conditions don’t improve.

Released in late June by Altus Group and BILD, the May figures represent the most current full-month snapshot of new home sales (and one of the most seasonally significant periods in the housing calendar).

That’s the story. But if you looked to organized real estate for answers, you’d never know it.

Instead of urgency, members got optics. Boards that were built to support Realtors through difficult markets have become fixated on protecting their own narrative.

In the middle of the worst new home sales slump in decades, some boards offered commentary on crime and bail reform (yes, in a housing update) while others painted a sunshine-and-rainbows picture of a market building momentum when, in fact, it barely regained its footing amidst trade tensions and election uncertainty.

While Realtors were trying to explain to clients why nothing was moving, their representative bodies were preserving image instead of delivering insight.

The quieter the market gets, the louder some boards become. Because when your value proposition fades, overreach starts to look like relevance.

What boards could have said (but didn’t)

A board serious about member service would have used this moment to speak directly to the economic fundamentals reshaping the market:

Canadians need to deleverage. Household debt is still hovering at 173.9 per cent of disposable income. According to the Bank of Canada’s May 2025 Financial Stability Report, 60 per cent of mortgages in Canada will renew in 2025 or 2026. Even after seven rate cuts, most borrowers will face payment increases. OSFI continues to warn that structural debt exposure remains high. 

Boards could have helped members prepare their clients and themselves for that reality. They didn’t.

Cap rates are flashing yellow. Altus Group’s Q1 2025 Investment Trends Survey shows capitalization rates trending upward across several asset classes. Suburban multi-unit residential rose to 4.65 per cent. Single-tenant industrial reached 5.93 per cent. On paper, these shifts may seem small. But they translate into five to 15 per cent headline valuation losses; enough to reset investment expectations and weaken the price floor in residential markets.

It should have been the front-page story of every board update. Instead, we got distraction.

And the consequences? Builders can’t make projects pencil. Equity partners are waiting. Lenders are cautious. Land deals are stalling. The risk-free rate is no longer a rounding error. Realtors are in the middle of this. Boards could have helped them understand it. They didn’t.

But the warning signs weren’t limited to cap rates and debt loads. Purpose-built rental completions may be near record highs, but new starts have cratered, down 60 per cent year-over-year, and the pipeline is thinning fast. Vacancy is rising, incentives are back, and investor confidence is softening. Still, boards said nothing.

They also stayed quiet on Ontario’s growing outmigration, on OSFI’s proposed replacement for the mortgage stress test, and on CMHC’s quiet retreat from its affordability benchmark. These aren’t footnotes. They’re flashing signals. The story is playing out across every part of the housing system and boards could have helped members make sense of it.

They didn’t. 

Whether it was neglect, confusion, or incapacity, the result is the same: silence when members needed clarity.

The agency problem, made personal

And the silence isn’t accidental. It’s structural.

Boards didn’t just miss these signals. They were never required to address them. Because when power becomes insulated, accountability fades. The problem isn’t just what wasn’t said. It’s why no one had to say it. And that brings us to how real estate governance actually works, and who it works for.

The agency problem happens when people who are supposed to act in your best interest start acting in their own. It creeps in slowly. In governance, it happens when directors and executives stop speaking for members and start managing around them.

This isn’t another article about disengagement. It’s about representation.

Directors begin to equate dissent with disloyalty. Executives start to believe that continuity equals leadership. And over time, boards stop responding to members and start protecting themselves.

That’s how we end up with multi-year tech contracts. Education programs launched without regulator or even stakeholder input. Conduct policies applied retroactively. And when challenged, the response is always procedural: “We followed the process.”

Disenfranchisement by design

Of course they followed the process, because the process was built to protect them from you.

Quorum thresholds are alarmingly low. At some boards, just a handful of votes in an organization of thousands, or even tens of thousands, are enough to pass sweeping by-law changes. As REM has previously published, TRREB’s most recent AGM saw a record turnout. Just over 1,000 members voted, including proxies, out of a membership of more than 70,000. One of the most controversial votes in years failed by fewer than 250 ballots.

This isn’t oversight. It’s insulation.

Through proxy stacking, a handful of insiders can quietly collect voting rights from disengaged members and consolidate control without resistance. Floor motions are ruled out of order. Consultations happen after decisions are finalized. Procedural legitimacy is performed, not earned.

Members don’t just feel shut out. They are.

What Realtors get instead

While agents are trying to keep deals alive and guide uncertain clients through turbulent financing, their boards are delivering generic talking points and irrelevant press releases.

They need data. Insight. Perspective.

Instead, they get messaging. Crime commentary. Boilerplate optimism. Statements no one asked for, released on their behalf.

You can’t fix this with a vote

This isn’t about better personalities. It’s about power.

Major by-law changes and dues increases should require a referendum. Programs introduced without a vote should sunset unless reaffirmed. Governance audits should be routine, not radical. And a national standard for board transparency and accountability should already exist.

In every other sector, these are baseline expectations.

In real estate, they’re treated as revolutionary.

The bottom line

Boards are not regulators. They are service providers. Their power flows from Realtors, not to them. If they’ve forgotten that, remind them.

As I argued in a previous article, the problem isn’t disengagement. It’s disenfranchisement.

You’re not just a member. You’re the owner. Act like it. Ask harder questions. Demand transparency. Refuse silence as an answer.

Brandon Reay

Brandon Reay brings a multifaceted background in real estate practice, policy, and governance. Before stepping into brokerage leadership, Brandon spent several years in organized real estate, contributing to strategic initiatives and advocacy efforts with CREA and OREA, and various Chambers of Commerce. His work has included shaping housing policy, supporting regulatory reform, and improving REALTOR® engagement across the country.

Brandon’s approach blends hands-on brokerage experience with a systems-level understanding of how policy, market forces, and professional standards intersect. He is known for helping professionals navigate evolving market conditions and advocating for higher standards within the industry. In addition to his leadership role at RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Group, he remains an active REALTOR® focused on agent development, business strategy, and client service.

Brandon regularly contributes commentary on market trends to media outlets and industry publications and has served as a spokesperson on housing issues in Ottawa. He is also a frequent speaker at real estate events, offering data-driven insights on brokerage strategy, professionalism, and the future of the industry.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Sprott School of Business. Brandon lives in Ottawa, where he remains closely involved in local policy discussions on housing affordability and real estate governance.

The post Reay: Boards lost the plot. Realtors are paying for it. appeared first on REM.

Among buyers in the past two years, 70 per cent say they couldn’t have bought their home without financial support. 

The findings highlight a housing affordability system under pressure, as more Canadians turn to family gifts, loans and other outside support to enter the market.

The insights are from Mortgage Professionals Canada’s annual State of the Housing Market survey, conducted by Bond Brand Loyalty earlier this year. The poll of 2,000 Canadians shows a growing divide in access to home ownership

“Down payment assistance is no longer a backup plan—it’s a requirement for many Canadians hoping to buy,” said Lauren van den Berg, president and CEO of Mortgage Professionals Canada. 

 

“These findings confirm what brokers across the country are seeing every day: consumers are under pressure, and they need expert, transparent advice to find a way forward.”

Regional variance

Of people who bought a home in the past five years, 42 per cent said they were able to purchase without help with the down payment.

The share of self-funded buyers was smallest in British Columbia at 34 per cent, followed closely by the Prairies (37 per cent) and Ontario (38 per cent).

Quebec had the greatest share of homebuyers who didn’t need help at 51 per cent, followed by Atlantic Canada, at 47 per cent.

The post 70% of new homebuyers needed down payment help: study appeared first on REM.

GVR reports that residential sales in the region totaled 2,181 in June, down from 2,418 sales recorded in June 2024. This was 25.8 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average.

“On a trended basis, signs are emerging that sales activity is rounding the corner after a challenging first half to the year, with the year-over-year decline in sales in June halving the decline we saw in May,” said Andrew Lis, GVR director of economics and data analytics.

“If this momentum continues, it may not be long before sales are up year-over-year, which would mark a shift toward a market with more demand than the unusually low demand we’ve seen so far this year.”

The benchmark price dropped 2.8 per cent year-over-year to $1.17 million, virtually unchanged from May.

Inventory still surging

There were 6,315 properties newly listed for sale on the MLS in Vancouver in June, a 10.3 per cent increase year-over-year.

The volume of new listings, which was 13 per cent above the long-term average, pushed the region’s inventory to 17,561, a 23.8 per cent increase compared to last year.

That’s 43.7 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average.

“As home sales regain their footing, inventory levels aren’t building as quickly as we’ve seen lately,” Lis said. 

“Most market segments remain in balanced market conditions, which has generally kept prices trending sideways since the start of the year. With over 17,000 listings on the market right now, and with mortgage rates down around two per cent since last summer, buyers are enjoying some of the most favorable conditions seen in years.” 

The post Vancouver ‘rounded the corner’ on home sale activity in June appeared first on REM.

While other sectors threaten to flat-line under the burden of President Donald Trump’s trade wars and the overall market slowdown, home sales in the uppermost tier – generally categorized as those above $10+ million – are experiencing a surprising uptick in some larger cities. 

Data is limited, as in this elite category there’s only a smattering of transactions even at the best of times. And it’s not unusual for some of these to be off-market, with moneyed sellers prioritizing privacy. But statistics currently show that there’s more activity this year than in the previous two in this high-flying market slice. 

Effi Barak, president of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, confirms that “even amid the uncertainty,” select segments of the top-tier bracket remain resilient, outperforming the broader marketplace and standing out as “outliers of greater stability” in an otherwise darkening landscape. 

Real estate as a safe haven

Why is the ultra-luxury market currently popping up as one of the country’s rare real estate strongholds?  Bottom line, experts believe that Canada’s richest buyers – that privileged one per cent – increasingly view the housing market as the safest haven for their wealth. They appear to be using real estate as a flight to safety, strategically shifting capital to luxury housing, with perceived stability over stocks and other investments in uncertain economic times. 

The topmost sector has strong long-term value potential, underscoring the strength of this elite consumer group in the face of turmoil, observes Barak. “Ultra-high-net-worth homebuyers are demonstrating strategic adaptability and financial resilience.” 

Tangible assets in times of uncertainty

Toronto’s ultra-luxury single-family-home market is among the country’s isolated pockets of resilience, poised to heat up, Barak predicts. Sotheby’s 2025 first quarter report on the top-tier luxury market noted that Calgary and Montreal’s ultra luxury markets are also showing continued resilience.

Other premium brokerages report similar findings. Engel & Völkers CFO Andrew Dinsmore believes that sustained demand from well-capitalized buyers, particularly for bespoke homes in enclaves of wealth like Forest Hill and Rosedale in Toronto where inventory is limited, indicates a growing preference for tangible assets like real estate, which are viewed as more secure – a way to “diversify, park capital, preserve wealth, and ride out stock market turbulence.”

Rest assured that a local multimillionaire like Drake isn’t missing sleep worrying about losing any equity in his $100-million mansion in the city’s posh Bridle Path neighbourhood.  

The unique profile of the ultra-rich buyer

Dinsmore explains that the purchase decisions and needs of the extremely wealthy are leagues away from the norm. Driven by an investment-focused mindset, “they’re not just looking for a roof over their heads.” They’re thinking long-term and likely have multiple properties and an international portfolio – perhaps homes in Toronto and Vancouver, a cottage in Muskoka, a villa in Italy.

“Ultra-rich buyers are more global. They have that flexibility,” continues Dinsmore. “And they’re not hit as hard by interest rates. They’re not going to the local bank to get a mortgage.” 

Having greater resources and more avenues to finance purchases, including paying in cash or pulling equity from other properties or investments, they can remain largely insulated from economic headwinds.

While not a liquid asset, property offers less volatility along with greater long-term security and value, which the financial markets currently lack, Dinsmore points out.   

Jason DeLuca, broker/advisor with Engel & Völkers’ Toronto Central office, is more direct.

“With stocks you can wake up next morning and a quarter of your wealth is gone. That doesn’t happen with real estate…It offers a level of confidence. It’s tangible, will be there for generations, and can be passed to your children.”

The fact that a primary residence is tax-free is also a huge benefit, of course.

From lifestyle to strategy

The condo market hasn’t traditionally been a focus for the uppermost tier in Canada. But DeLuca thinks that’s changing, with ultra-luxury condo developments aimed at the top of the market being developed in trendy Toronto neighbourhoods like Yorkville, despite the city’s killer condo slump.

Whatever the type, there’s a limited supply of premium properties in the prime-luxury sector, “no subdivisions of $10+ million homes being built,” DeLuca asserts. The rich understand that dynamic, and are buying these homes faster than usual, in his estimation. 

He’s witnessed multi-million-dollar deals where the client had an entire investment/risk management team involved. 

“There were bankers, lawyers, planners, and more,” says DeLuca. ”It was part of the client’s wealth strategy. We couldn’t formalize until everything was checked by the team.”

Luxury real estate has evolved from being a prestigious discretionary lifestyle purchase to a key element of wealth preservation, he’s found. He believes that this select market branch is set to really take flight. It’s a sector that’s traditionally shown remarkable stability, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s increasingly active.

“You’d think that with the market rippling, the ultra-rich would be sitting on the sidelines like most others,” reflects DeLuca. “But they aren’t. They’re different. This is bigger than market jitters. We’re standing at the threshold.”

Susan Doran

Susan Doran is a Toronto-based freelance writer who has been contributing to REM since its very first issue.

The post Why smart money is flowing into Canada’s luxury market appeared first on REM.

The region’s “housing market may feel balanced on the surface, but inventory trends are telling a different story,” the report states. Rennie projects a sharp 60 per cent rise in unsold condo units across the region by year’s end, jumping from the current 2,179 to an estimated 3,493.

“If the current trajectory holds, we’ll be ending 2025 with the highest level of unsold condo inventory in years,” said Ryan Berlin, head economist and vice president of intelligence at Rennie. “That has real implications, not just for what gets built next, but for how the region manages affordability, absorption, and future growth.”

The spike in unsold inventory comes as newly completed condos increasingly outpace buyer demand. While rental builds have gained momentum, Rennie notes pre-sale activity remains “sluggish.” Recent changes extended the marketing window under B.C.’s Real Estate Development Marketing Act from 12 to 18 months, but “still, higher interest rates, policy shifts, and investor uncertainty are contributing to elevated—and growing—unsold inventory levels.”

The report also outlines broader economic issues adding to market uncertainty, including prolonged labour market stress, demographic shifts and weakening immigration numbers that could lead to population decline in Metro Vancouver.

Lower interest rates from the Bank of Canada have reignited consumer credit growth, yet many homeowners will still face higher mortgage payments upon renewal this year. The good news? “While arrears rates are ticking up, they remain historically low.” Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar continues to lag behind the U.S. dollar, pressured by ongoing trade tensions.

Read the full report here. 

The post Metro Vancouver condo inventory could rise 60% by year-end: report appeared first on REM.

Much like the early stages of the pandemic, we have entered a “wait and see” phase. Buyers are cautious. Sellers are pausing. Realtors across the country are watching closely to see how policies, lending conditions and consumer confidence evolve.

But if history is any guide, periods of uncertainty often precede bursts of activity and 2025 may be no exception.

Lessons from the past

When the COVID-19 crisis first hit, the market came to a near standstill. The uncertainty was palpable, and we were all left wondering how the world would respond to such an unprecedented event. But as the pandemic unfolded, we saw how the housing market adapted, shifting drastically to meet new needs. The introduction of government subsidies played a key role in revitalizing the economy, leading to a massive surge in the housing market.

While today’s tariff tensions and political uncertainty present a very different kind of challenge, they share one key trait: hesitation. In moments like this, the market doesn’t collapse—it pauses. And when clarity returns, buyers and sellers tend to come back with purpose. 

2025 could be the year that sets the stage for a very strong market.

Reasons for optimism

Canadian pride is stronger than ever, and our resilience will see us through these challenges. The key lies in our collective leadership, from both national and local levels, and I’m confident our leaders will step up with subsidies and grants to help mitigate many of the negative effects of the tariffs.

Additionally, Canada’s national debt remains the lowest in the G7, providing a solid foundation for our economy. As we look toward the future, we’re seeing increased housing inventory due to mortgage renewals, unsold condo inventory making its way back to market, and the natural spring surge of resale listings.

The market is setting up for success, and savvy Realtors are going to be busier than they’ve been in years. Whether it’s helping clients navigate the evolving tariff situation or taking advantage of the increased inventory, 2025 is poised to be an exciting year for those ready to seize the opportunity.

Preparing for the next phase

While we’re still in this “wait and see” period, unlike the uncertainty of COVID, this is actually the perfect time for agents and brokers to get back into the office and start planning for the upcoming market surge. If you haven’t already, now is the time to work closely with your local broker or manager to build a strategy that will set you up for success. Your focus should be on preparing your business for an active market and doing so with the right training, resources, and motivation.

For brokers, now is the time to ramp up efforts in your office. Your team should be buzzing with activity, offering training workshops, marketing seminars, motivational efforts, and team-building events to ensure that everyone is ready to hit the ground running when the market picks up. It’s important to stay ahead of the curve and stay engaged with your agents to ensure they are fully prepared for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

For agents who embraced remote work during the pandemic, it might be time to re-evaluate your work environment. Consider joining a local broker who is physically present every day—someone who can guide you, support your efforts, and push you toward success. Sometimes, the best way to succeed is by surrounding yourself with like-minded professionals who are committed to the same goals.

Final thoughts: Stay focused, stay ready

While the start of 2025 has introduced new challenges, it has also created space for preparation and recalibration. The fundamentals of Canada’s real estate market—population growth, fiscal strength and housing need—remain intact.

This year may not offer the frenzied pace of early pandemic recovery, but it has the potential to deliver something just as important: sustainable growth in a more balanced market.

Now is the time to be proactive, stay informed, and be ready to meet the moment when confidence returns to the market. Because it will.

Todd Shyiak

Todd Shyiak is executive vice president at Century 21 Canada, where he oversees operations including the selection and servicing of all technology and training, leads national recruiting and retention initiatives and actively pursues M&A opportunities for C21 brokers. He has been in the real estate industry for decades. As an agent, Todd sold over 850 homes and condos. He has managed and mentored many agents, sold MLS systems to dozens of boards across Canada and the U.S., consulted and created broker technology and tools and ran his own agent recruiting company.

The post OPINION: In a slower market, smart Realtors gear up—not slow down appeared first on REM.