The following is a joint statement released on Oct. 27 by members of Ontario’s housing sector, including the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).

Ontario is facing a housing emergency. Projects are stalling, builders are cancelling developments and families and individuals are being priced out of the market.

As the provincial and federal governments prepare to release their fall economic statement and budget respectively, our message is urgent: bold, coordinated action is needed to boost housing construction, lower costs and bring affordability back within reach for residents.

Housing is more than just shelter; it’s the foundation of our economy and the heart of our communities. Today, Ontario’s housing sector, from builders, Realtors, business groups, trade associations, not-for-profit organizations and rental providers, speaks with one clear voice. Together with governments at all levels, we must move swiftly to unlock housing supply, cut costs, and restore affordability by accelerating ownership and rental housing delivery.

We acknowledge the positive work done so far by the federal, provincial and municipal governments regarding policy developments, zoning reform and funding programs to encourage more housing construction, including the most recent provincial housing bill, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, which signals the government’s intention to take further practical steps in cutting red tape, lowering construction costs and restoring confidence and investment in the rental housing market by speeding up slow resolution processes to adjudicate landlord and tenant disputes. Other efforts include the Housing Accelerator Fund, the Apartment Construction Loan Program, Build Canada Homes, the Building Ontario Fund, the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, reform to end exclusionary zoning and allow as-of-right construction of multi-plexes on single lots and the Building Faster Fund, among other projects. However, more action is still needed.

We also recognize that potential disruptions impacting the housing ecosystem that are outside the direct control of governments and industry, such as trade wars, geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty, need to be considered as we navigate an uncertain environment at the macro level. 

Housing remains the backbone of Canada’s economy. It supports over 1.2 million jobs and contributes more than $143 billion in economic activity yearly to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, rising costs, difficult regulatory environments, economic uncertainty and constrained supply have slowed new housing starts and home purchases, putting tens of thousands of skilled trade jobs at risk. This will impact spin-off economic activity in related sectors and push both home ownership and rental housing further out of reach for many residents.

To meet Ontario and Canada’s housing challenge, a united focus on delivery is required. By reducing construction costs, attracting investments and aligning tax policy, zoning and approval systems, governments at all levels can restore confidence, protect jobs and support innovation at the speed and scale Canadians urgently need.

Policy priorities for immediate action

To restore affordability and confidence in the housing market, we are calling on municipal, provincial and federal governments to work collaboratively with the housing sector by adopting the following measures:

1. Position and profile housing as an economic driver: To ensure housing policy is economic policy, recognize housing construction and trade as a core driver of employment and GDP, adopt a framework to preserve the tremendous job creation that the housing industry generates, and acknowledge that housing unaffordability is also affecting our overall economic productivity, especially in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA).

2. Modernize outdated tax rules: Extend the GST/HST exemption on new homes up to $1.5 million for homebuyers, reflecting current market realities, particularly in major urban centres, and encouraging new construction.

3. Cut costs for homebuyers: Align cost recovery with actual service delivery and housing goals to reduce barriers to construction and costs to homebuyers. Municipalities and provinces need to collaborate with industry to modernize the fee structure applied to new housing, which is currently inflating housing costs and constraining new supply.

4. Build faster through innovation in parallel to traditional building: Support the advent, inclusion and expansion of modern construction methods – including panelized systems, modular building, robotics and other emerging technologies that embrace productivity, reduce costs and construction time, and enable homebuilding at scale. These need to be supported by an innovation policy framework created in partnership with the industry that provides incentives for early adopters and customers of new solutions, as well as investments in Canadian companies providing new solutions. Scaling up pioneering methods should be done in addition to supporting the ongoing innovation and productivity of traditional construction techniques.

5. Free up land and end exclusionary zoning: Act decisively to end outdated zoning restrictions to permit gentle density and a wider mix of housing types, especially missing-middle and multi-unit dwellings in more communities.

6. Incentivize private capital: Encourage programs that incentivize private capital, both investment and philanthropic, for both rental and ownership housing to accelerate market and non-market construction. This should include reintroducing the Multiple Unit Residential Building (MURBS) tax incentive.

The housing sector stands ready to partner with every level of government. Together, we can reignite momentum, rebuild confidence, restore affordability through partnership, innovation and investment, and deliver the homes our communities urgently need.

Signed:

John DiMichele, CEO, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board

Luigi Favaro, CEO, Ontario Real Estate Association

Ene Underwood, CEO, Habitat for Humanity GTA

Michael Brooks, CEO, Real Property Association of Canada

George Carras, CEO, R-LABS Canada

Jonathan Nusbaum, CEO, Terra Modular

Marlon Bray, executive vice president, Clark Construction Management

Tony Irwin, president and CEO, Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario/Rental Housing Canada

Daryl Chong, president and CEO, Greater Toronto Apartment Association

Dave Wilkes, president and CEO, Building Industry and Land Development Association

Kathy Hogeveen, chief of operations, Assembly Corp.

Jude Tersigni, vice president of planning and development, Menkes Developments

Richard Lyall, president, Residential Construction Council of Ontario

Roselle Martino, executive vice president, policy and strategic affairs, Toronto Region Board of Trade

Frank Cairo, co-founder and CEO, Caivan Communities

Nhung Nguyen, CEO, Horizon Legacy

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For more than 40 years, Bosley guided the Toronto-based brokerage with her husband, Tom Bosley, overseeing its growth into one of the city’s most established firms. She was widely recognized for advancing professional standards, championing mentorship, and supporting the next generation of industry leaders.

Bosley’s influence reached beyond her company, and even beyond Toronto. She served as president of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) from 2002 to 2003 and later as president of Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) from 2007 to 2008. Together with Tom, she was part of the first wife-and-husband team to lead both organizations. 

During her tenure, she played a central role in the development of Realtor.ca and was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Realtors Care Foundation, which continues to fund community initiatives across the country.

“Ann’s vision was rooted in humanity. She saw real estate as a calling that connected people to the rhythm of their lives. Those who had the privilege of knowing her will remember the passion she brought to leadership and the way she lifted others simply by believing in them,” reads a statement from Bosley Real Estate.

“Ann’s light endures in the company she shaped, in the industry she transformed, and in every act of integrity that bears her influence.”

She also conceived and developed Bosley U, the firm’s internal training program, which she wrote herself. 

Her daughter Christan now serves as president of Bosley Real Estate, carrying the family firm into its fourth generation.

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John DiMichele, CEO of TRREB and PropTx Innovations Inc., confirmed in an email to Real Estate Magazine that the TRREB leadership team has appointed a new interim board, replacing the previous board. 

“This transition will ensure PropTx’s governance structure is optimally positioned for our next strategic planning cycle and better aligned with emerging technologies, user needs, and our long-term vision to support our mission,” said DiMichele.

Members of the new board are Agostino Monteleone, Daniel Steinfeld, Frank Farhangi, Colby Bayne, Anna Michaelidis and Paul Helps. 

Former board members, as recently as the spring, included Paul Baron as chair, and directors Jennifer Pearce, Mathieu Glaude, Irene Zaguskin and Paula Morrison.

“This initiative is designed to support long-term planning and ensure the continued delivery of the innovative products and services our users rely on,” said DiMichele.

A permanent board will be appointed as part of the next phase of organizational planning, added DiMichele.

Kevin Crigger, associate CEO of TRREB, is the president of PropTx. He assumed both roles last fall.

PropTx continues to operate as usual. It provides service to nearly 90,000 Realtors across Ontario.

Editor’s note: This story was revised on the morning of Oct. 14 with the names of the former directors.

Courtney Zwicker

Courtney Zwicker is a digital reporter and associate editor for REM. Based in Atlantic Canada, she has over a decade of experience covering daily business news.

The post TRREB replaces PropTx board; plans for governance review appeared first on REM.

Don’t miss out—join us online for REM’s monthly market breakdown on Oct. 28 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.

September’s housing data for the Greater Toronto Area released by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) carried headlines that seemed to suggest improvement.

Sales were up 8.5 per cent compared with a year earlier, and the Bank of Canada’s September rate cut provided a modest lift to affordability. More households stepped back into the market as mortgage payments inched closer to reach, creating the impression that momentum is returning. Yet the deeper reading is less reassuring. Prices remain in retreat, listings continue to accumulate, and the time it takes to sell a property has stretched noticeably. The result is a market that looks busier but remains structurally imbalanced, as I pointed out in my op-ed for August’s numbers.

TRREB reported an average sale price of $1.06 million in September, down 4.7 per cent year-over-year. The MLS Home Price Index fell by 5.5 per cent, confirming that valuations are slipping. Month-to-month, prices appear stable, but the broader trend is downward pressure as supply outpaces the ability of buyers to absorb it.

Supply outpaces demand

The year-over-year summary reveals how fragile this apparent recovery is. Active listings climbed by nearly 19 per cent compared with September 2024, while sales increased by less than half that pace. New listings edged up only 3.9 per cent, meaning more homes are stagnating on the market and have driven the total inventory to 29,394. As Valery agent Robert Marsiglio illustrated in a chart shared on X (given below), September 2025 ranked as the second busiest September for new listings across the GTA in the past decade. Homes are also taking longer to sell, with the average listing period increasing from 27 to 33 days and property days on market stretching from 42 to 51.

Earlier today, I tweeted that no serious discussion of a bottom can take place while supply continues to rise faster than demand. Until that imbalance shifts, prices are unlikely to stabilize with any permanence.

Uneven geographies

The breakdown by home type illustrates just how uneven the correction has become. Detached sales rose 9.6 per cent year-over-year, yet average prices fell 5.1 per cent. Semi-detached homes saw an 11 per cent increase in sales, with prices down 6.8 per cent. Condominiums recorded a 7.2 per cent gain in sales while prices slipped 4.3 per cent.

One segment stands apart. Townhouse sales in the 416 soared nearly 40 per cent compared with last year, the strongest growth of any category. Prices still declined by almost five per cent, but the sharp rise in transactions signals a clear buyer preference for ground-oriented homes that remain relatively more affordable than detached properties while offering more space and utility than a condominium.

The divergence between the 416 and 905 regions further underscores the imbalance. Detached home prices in the city declined by less than one per cent, while suburban detached properties fell by 7.2 per cent. Central locations show relative resilience, while suburban markets face a steeper adjustment. The leap in townhouse demand within Toronto proper points to an enduring appetite for “missing middle” housing, even as other segments struggle to find stability.

Policy, economics and the fragility of confidence

All of this is unfolding against a difficult economic backdrop. GDP contracted by 1.6 per cent in the second quarter, and unemployment in Toronto has climbed to nine per cent. Inflation has cooled to 1.7 per cent, which gives the Bank of Canada space to continue easing, but households remain wary. Even with slightly lower borrowing costs, buyers are pressing harder in negotiations, fully aware that inventory levels tilt the leverage in their favour.

TRREB is right that lower rates stimulate spending and provide some cushioning for the broader economy. Yet reliance on monetary easing to prop up sales activity is a poor substitute for structural balance. A housing market that functions only when rates are falling reflects deeper problems of affordability and income stagnation.

What comes next

The path forward will hinge on whether demand can sustainably absorb the surge of listings. Additional rate cuts may add momentum, but they cannot alone correct the oversupply or rebuild seller confidence. Policymakers and builders will need to confront the alignment of new supply with true affordability rather than perpetuating cycles of overhang and retrenchment.

For buyers, this remains a rare period of leverage. Choice is abundant, timelines are extended, and sellers are adjusting expectations downward. September’s data reinforce a clear point. Toronto’s housing market has not yet found its bottom, and until supply and demand converge, recovery will remain more appearance than reality.

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 Foch: Why Toronto housing has yet to reach the bottom appeared first on REM.

Sales clocked in at 5,211, slightly higher than last year, but on a seasonally adjusted basis, it was the first monthly decline since March. Prices remain under pressure: the benchmark fell to $978,100, continuing a nine-month streak without gains. More importantly, the mix of which products are falling hardest is surprising even to seasoned observers.

Detached homes and condos lead the decline

Conventional wisdom said 416 detached homes would prove more resilient than condos. Instead, they have posted one of the steepest drops of this cycle, down more than 10 per cent year over year, the largest decline in the core and among freehold properties. The only segment that fared worse was 905 condominiums, which fell 10.6 per cent annually. These are not marginal adjustments; they are some of the deepest corrections seen in recent memory.

Other product types were not spared either. Average prices are down across nearly every category, with one exception: 416 townhouses, up about one per cent. For investors and builders, that small uptick hints at a potential redevelopment angle. Townhouse-style multiplexes on detached lots could pencil in more favorably if the spread between detached and townhouse values persists. But that is more of a niche silver lining than a broad market trend.

Inventory surge reshapes market power

The biggest story is not just about falling prices, but also about swelling supply. Active listings surged 22.4 per cent compared to last August, one of the largest year-over-year increases on record. Only May 2025’s 41.5 per cent spike rivaled it.

And the momentum is not slowing. Active listings historically rise in September, and early tracking suggests another record could be set. Last year, inventory jumped five per cent from August to September. With 2025 already running 20 to 40 per cent higher year over year, a comparable gain would push Toronto into uncharted territory for supply:

This imbalance is shifting the balance of power. With more options, buyers can demand price cuts. Sellers who resist price discovery face longer wait times. The average days on market rose from 29 to 33, with properties now typically taking more than a month, sometimes two, to sell.

Sales are up for the wrong reasons

TRREB and bullish analysts may point out that sales are higher than last year. But the data reveal why: more people are transacting because prices are falling, not because confidence or fundamentals have improved. In July, sales briefly outpaced new listings, hinting at demand catching up. But in August, that reversed. New listings jumped 9.4 per cent while sales crept up only 2.3 per cent. Supply growth is once again outpacing demand growth, a hallmark of deepening buyer’s market conditions.

The broader policy dilemma

The Bank of Canada faces pressure to restart rate cuts this fall. Monetary easing might pull sidelined buyers back in, but without structural affordability through higher wages and more attainable supply, it risks reigniting speculative churn. Lower rates cannot solve a market defined by abundance without affordability.

Meanwhile, TRREB has called for infrastructure spending to support growth. That is the more durable fix: aligning housing with incomes, transit, and services. Otherwise, the market risks bouncing between boom and bust on the back of credit cycles.

What this means for buyers and builders

For buyers, today’s environment is one of rare leverage. Longer days on market and swelling inventory mean bidding wars are evaporating, replaced by opportunities to negotiate. The risk is not missing out, but over-reaching, especially if prices continue to slide into the fall.

For builders, the era of assuming perpetual scarcity is over. Projects premised on constrained supply may underperform. The developers best positioned will be those who deliver family-sized units, rentals, and mixed-income communities, products resilient to speculative cycles.

A market that mirrors the economy

The GTA housing market has always been a proxy for the broader economy. Today’s weakness coincides with slowing exports in Ontario’s steel and automotive industries, pressured by U.S. tariffs. Housing, once the locomotive of economic recovery, cannot be counted on alone this time.

Whether the market stabilizes or continues correcting will hinge less on interest rates and more on structural alignment: matching supply to incomes, inventory to demand, and housing policy to the realities of the twenty-first-century economy.

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 GTA rich with listings, but houses still aren’t affordable: Foch appeared first on REM.

“Our associations welcome a full review of RECO’s governance and practices. This process must deliver meaningful reforms, including Ombudsperson oversight, stronger accountability measures, and enhanced enforcement tools to safeguard consumer deposits and restore public confidence,” said the associations in a combined statement.

Toronto Regional Real Estate Board president Elechia Barry-Sproule, Cornerstone Association of Realtors chair Julie Sergie, Ottawa Real Estate Board president Paul Czan, OnePoint Association of Realtors president Bonnie Looby, and Central Lakes Association of Realtors president Christine Riley signed the statement.

“Recent events, including the iPro Realty investigation, have highlighted the need for enhanced transparency and accountability at Ontario’s real estate regulator,” reads the statement. “The handling of trust account breaches by iPro Realty is a serious matter that speaks directly to consumer confidence and professional integrity.”

The statement said the Pro Realty investigation “undermines RECO’s consumer protection mandate,” and damages the reputation of thousands of hardworking and honest Realtors.

The associations note that Ontario would not be the first province to bring its real estate regulator under the Ombudsman’s oversight, noting that counterparts in B.C. and Quebec already fall under the jurisdiction of their respective provincial Ombudspersons. 

RECO’s board announced Monday it had ordered an immediate freeze on iPro accounts, to “safeguard funds and secure business operations,” it said, while an independent audit into the matter by legal firm Dentons Canada LLP will begin immediately, according to a statement. 

Demands for action are getting louder after Ontario’s real estate regulator said last week that iPro Realty co-founders Rui Alves and Fedele Colucci will not face charges, despite $10.5 million going missing from the brokerage’s trust accounts. The total amount missing is now $8 million, RECO has said.

OREA’s response

Earlier this week, Ontario Real Estate Association interim CEO Sonia Richards also called for RECO to be made subject to Ombudsman oversight, echoing a point made in OREA’s 2024 whitepaper, Continuing to Raise the Bar for Real Estate in Ontario.

Richards said the sudden closure of iPro Realty “has shown the far-reaching impact that regulatory decisions can have on Ontario’s buyers, sellers, real estate professionals, and overall consumer confidence in the real estate market.”

“Last week’s subsequent leadership changes at (RECO) further demonstrate the importance of transparent and independent oversight of government bodies in fostering a trustworthy and durable consumer protection framework for Ontario families,” said Richards.

The post Ontario’s largest Realtor boards in favour of Ford’s RECO review appeared first on REM.

The two-day event will spotlight “cross-border collaboration, MLS innovation, and the sharing of ideas,” said TRREB. It’s happening Sept. 25-26 at the Westin Harbour Castle.

“After attending the inaugural International MLS Forum in Paris two years ago, I knew the global conversation needed to continue here in Toronto. I’m proud Toronto is this year’s host city and part of the international movement shaping the future of real estate worldwide,” said John DiMichele, CEO of TRREB.

DiMichele will take the stage as a keynote speaker, sharing insights with the international delegation on the importance of collaboration, technology, and policy.

By inviting international event organizers to Toronto, TRREB is bringing together top real estate association leaders, technology experts, and investors from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America.

As technology continues to transform the industry, global real estate markets are calling for quicker development, trusted data, and open standards, said TRREB in a statement.

On the forum’s opening day, DiMichele will lead discussions on real estate data governance, cross-border alignment and open standards and innovation and MLS modernization.

The post DiMichele to take the stage at global conference coming to Toronto 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.

Designed to securely store keys and facilitate scheduled showings, lockboxes are being misused by some agents who share access codes with clients or third parties—violating professional rules and exposing sellers to serious risks, including theft, privacy invasion, and property damage.

The problem is more than anecdotal. In Ontario, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) has received 20 to 40 complaints annually over the last five years about agents providing unauthorized access to listed properties.

According to RECO registrar Joe Richer, nearly all substantiated complaints led to disciplinary action, with fines starting at $5,500 and reaching as high as $9,500 for repeat or contested violations.

“You’re giving somebody a key with no idea what they’re going to do with it,” said Richer. “That’s a major breach of trust.”

Efforts to find a solution

The consequences for Realtors go beyond monetary penalties. Industry leaders say misuse of lockboxes erodes public confidence in the profession and can result in legal liability for agents and brokerages.

In response, many brokerages and real estate boards are turning to electronic lockboxes that offer time-restricted access and real-time tracking. Still, the problem persists, with some agents ignoring protocols for the sake of speed or convenience.

 “It’s not just wrong—it’s dangerous,” said prominent Toronto Realtor Frank Leo, who replaced traditional lockboxes years ago after incidents involving unauthorized reentry into client homes.

Responsibility lies with seller’s agent

Richer said the lockbox is used to simplify the process. It’s a convenience for Realtors, allowing for easier access with the least amount of intrusion possible. But, ultimately, the seller must be comfortable with using a lockbox, and they need to understand the risks.

The seller’s representative is responsible, first and foremost, for protecting the property on the seller’s behalf. They’re expected to be at the showing—unless the seller has specifically instructed that they don’t need to be there.

The agents have a legal obligation to ensure the property isn’t damaged, that nothing is stolen, and that the seller’s privacy isn’t breached.

The lockbox should only be accessed by licensed agents—unless the seller explicitly instructs otherwise, said Richer.

“It’s a very serious issue for us. We have a number of complaints about this annually. And virtually everybody that we receive a complaint about, if it’s supported by evidence that they actually did provide unauthorized access to a property, every single one of those agents has been referred to discipline.”

The case for electronic lockboxes

Richer said the technology has come a long way, and electronic lockboxes are a much better option. The more advanced systems only provide access codes that are valid for a specific time slot, and sometimes they won’t even allow entry a few minutes early. Others work through Bluetooth and mobile apps, meaning the access is tied directly to the agent’s phone—so you can’t just pass along a code.

There are huge benefits: the listing agent knows exactly when someone enters and leaves. Overlapping showings are avoided, and unauthorized re-entry isn’t possible without a new code.

Richer said there’s no provincial law about which lockbox system to use. That’s determined by the local real estate boards. Members of each board must use the systems authorized by that board.

“The good thing, too, is that the profession as a whole is seeing the importance of it and they’re sick and tired of it, of the people that are doing it (breaking the rules) and so they’re filing complaints about it,” added Richer.

Leo, with Frank Leo & Associates, part of the Re/Max team in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, said he’s very concerned about the traditional lockboxes. 

The difference is in the control and accountability, he said, adding he’s always taken client safety seriously.

“As soon as the technology became available, I made it a strict policy in my business to stop using traditional lockboxes. We use electronic lockboxes only,” he said.

Changes coming this fall, says TRREB

In a statement, John DiMichele, CEO of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, said: “As the real estate profession continues to advance, so too do the tools and technologies we rely on to serve clients and uphold professional standards. At TRREB, we are committed to leading that evolution, and this fall, we will introduce a new electronic lockbox solution for our members to enhance both security and accountability.

“The system will provide each (Realtor) with individual access credentials, enable real-time tracking of property visits, restrict access outside of scheduled appointments, and integrate directly with TRREB’s showing management system. This initiative reflects our broader commitment to delivering innovative solutions that support our members’ success and protect the interests of their clients.”

DiMichele said every Realtor has a legal and ethical obligation to follow the rules, especially when it comes to property access and security. 

Lockbox codes must never be shared, and no buyer, appraiser, inspector, or service provider may enter a property unless they are accompanied by a Realtor or have written consent from the seller. 

He said the board’s MLS rules clearly state that a Realtor must be physically present for the entire duration of a visit.

“Breaches of these rules are taken seriously. Complaints submitted to TRREB are reviewed by our Professional Standards Hearing Panel, and violations may result in significant penalties, including fines and mandatory training. Members are also encouraged to report serious infractions to the RECO, the regulator responsible for enforcing the profession’s Code of Ethics,” explained DiMichele.

 “At TRREB, we take our role in supporting member professionalism seriously. We continue to communicate regularly with members about their responsibilities, including best practices for managing property access and ensuring the safety and security of clients and their homes.”

No issues reported in Calgary

Alan Tennant, CEO of the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), said the use of lockboxes is very clearly spelled out. The purpose of access is strictly for showings. It’s a Realtor-to-Realtor environment. Any exceptions need to be approved by the listing agent.

“It’s a major demonstration of consumers’ trust  . . . they’re essentially handing over the keys to their home, expecting that it will be used solely to help get the property sold. So access is intended specifically for Realtors,” he said.

Tennant said CREB has had no reports or issues regarding abuse of the process.

Mario Toneguzzi

Mario Toneguzzi is a contributing writer for REM. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He now works on his own as a freelance writer for several national publications and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list.

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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.

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