After sluggish spring, experts betting on a buzzy autumn

With more rate cuts expected, realtors say buyers ready to enter market

- CLARRIE FEINSTEIN

Toronto’s real estate market is betting on more interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada to stimulate the fall market.

Already the anticipation is having an impact.

“We’re starting to see it on the ground ourselves,” said John Pasalis, president of real estate brokerage Realosophy. “In our business buyers who are interested are jumping into the fall market. We’ve seen an uptick of calls.”

The two busiest times of the year for the real estate market are fall and spring — when hordes of buyers typically come out ready to outbid their rivals. But last fall the market came to a “grinding halt” after the Bank of Canada raised its rate twice over the summer and has remained sluggish since. Experts thought this past spring would revitalize the sleepy market, but it flopped.

Buyers remained on the sidelines waiting for interest rates to drop and sellers kept their prices too high, holding onto expectations of exorbitant pandemic prices.

The Bank of Canada’s next interest rate announcement is on Wednesday, and experts expect another drop of at least 0.25 percentage points — if it happens this would be the third consecutive rate cut, after the bank’s June and July decreases sent its key interest rate from five per cent to 4.5 per cent.

That’s not to say the fall market will be “insanely competitive,” Pasalis added, but reasonably priced homes that have sat on the market for weeks will likely see more demand.