ANDREI LIPATOV's blog

There has to be something pleasant before the long weekend, right? Let me cheer you up a bit.

Remember those apocalyptic prophecies about the “mortgage rate renewal cliff” in Canada? You know, that terrifying moment when millions of borrowers were supposedly going to plunge headfirst into a debt abyss because their renewed mortgage rates would skyrocket? Well, turns out the Bank of Canada scratched its head and thought, “Hmm... maybe we overdid it a bit.” That so-called “cliff”? It’s more like a curb. Hard to even trip over.

According to the Bank’s latest Financial Stability Report (FSR),...

️ Once upon a time, Toronto was a city where home prices skyrocketed faster than you could say "mortgage."
Today? Quite the opposite.
The market hasn’t just cooled — it’s practically frozen.

Prices Keep Dropping
The typical Toronto home has officially lost its million-dollar badge. Average price now? $985,000.
For locals, that feels like a bitter defeat. The once “invincible” market has finally been knocked down a few pegs.

Sales Are in Freefall
Only 5,601 homes sold in April — that's straight out of 1997. Remember what that year looked like?
Flip phones, cassette tapes, and a major...

Русский перевод сразу после английского текста

Governments are cheerfully announcing that “tariffs turned out to be softer than expected,” while the Canadian economy is quietly writing a sick note and heading for the couch.
A brand-new forecast from Oxford Economics reads like this:
“We’re grateful they didn’t hit us with a sledgehammer… but it’s still going to hurt.”

GDP? Then vs. Now:

The growth forecast for 2025? Just 0.7% (and that’s with all the chants about immigration-driven growth). And 2026? –0.2% contraction. So we climb a little… just...

On the eve of the elections, both the Liberals and Conservatives are actively proposing ideas that could impact the real estate market — and I see this as a good sign. The authorities are finally starting to pay attention to the real needs of homebuyers.

Just the other day, Prime Minister Mark Carney proposed eliminating the GST on new homes priced up to $1 million — though only for first-time homebuyers. In response, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre went even further, suggesting the removal of GST on all new homes up to $1.3 million, regardless of the buyer's status.

Yes, there is...

Каких ошибок стоит избежать при продаже жилья в Онтарио?

Продажа недвижимости в Онтарио может быть сложным процессом, особенно если вы впервые сталкиваетесь с этим. Ошибки могут привести к потере денег, затягиванию сроков или даже юридическим проблемам. Рассмотрим основные ошибки, которых стоит избегать, и разберём их на...

In the wake of an extraordinarily sluggish few months for real estate transactions in almost all areas of Ontario, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has released its own forecast for each province and the country as a whole for 2025.

Based on this year’s trends, expected interest rate cuts, and other factors, the association predicts an increase in the cost of a typical home in each province next year, from 2 percent in Prince Edward Island to 7.9 percent in Alberta.

But let's leave the other provinces alone. What about Ontario?

CREA predicts that the average price of a house or...

 

So, our "beloved" condominiums... and generally, what's happening not just in the Toronto real estate market, but in the Ontario market as a whole. Written at the request of my 7 subscribers who closely follow the current market in "hot" mode.

Condominium developers in Toronto are finding it harder than ever to sell their properties, as this type of housing market is completely, I would say, at rock bottom, forcing some developers to offer desperate incentives or even halt construction.

One sign of the very alarming situation, caused by high interest rates and overall housing...

New data from Statistics Canada shows that the annual inflation rate in the country has dropped to a three-year low of 2.7 percent. This is undoubtedly great news for all Canadians and could signal a potential decrease in the key interest rate by the Bank of Canada. Where did the decline occur? It is primarily due to lower prices for food, services, and durable goods, which have caused the slowdown in inflation. The rise in gasoline prices has somewhat slowed this process.

However, one of the main factors contributing significantly to the overall level of inflation in Canada is,...