A three-bedroom home at 36 Hunter St. In Toronto's east-end neighbourhoods, buyers have become unwavering in their pursuit of a property that suits their lifestyle exactly, a broker says.Content Lab
In the Toronto-area real estate market, the “fear of missing out” that kept prices escalating during previous run-ups has shifted to dread of settling too soon.
Sales have perked up in October as easing borrowing costs, lower prices and ample supply have bolstered the confidence of buyers.
Still, some buyers seem overwhelmed by the plentiful options today as inventory remains high by historical standards, says Rochelle DeClute, broker with Union Realty.
“We’d hate to jump if there’s a better one coming next week,” Ms. DeClute says of buyer sentiment. “Sometimes the more choice you have, the harder it is to decide.”
As many stymied sellers have learned, house hunters have become extremely discerning.
Ms. DeClute concentrates much of her business in the Beaches and nearby east-end neighbourhoods, where buyers have become unwavering in their pursuit of a property that suits their lifestyle exactly.
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Being in their preferred pocket is more important to buyers than ever in the past, she says, and walkability is prized. As always, families with children place great importance on being in the catchment area for a top-ranked school, but the parents also value being able to walk to a neighbourhood coffee shop. If they have toddlers, they want to be able to stroll to an indoor play centre. Adults seeking recreation need their gym or golf course nearby.
For the house itself, buyers still have long-standing preferences for a main floor family room and bathroom, she says, but now many will hold out for a property that is completely turnkey, right down to having window blinds and closet organizers in place.
“Those are the ‘wins’ at the end of the day – the houses that have it all,” Ms. DeClute says.
She points to the east-end neighbourhood dubbed The Pocket, where Union Realty agent Carley McIntosh recently listed a semi-detached house with an asking price of $1.399-million.
The home at 36 Hunter St., in Toronto. Buyers still have long-standing preferences for a main floor family room and bathroom, Ms. DeClute says.Content Lab
While setting a date for reviewing offers is a risky strategy in a slow market, the team put a deadline in place for the three-bedroom home at 36 Hunter St. because it fits three key attributes: the house is nicely renovated, in a popular location and in the high-demand price bracket below $1.5-million.
As it turned out, the offer date fell on the day the Toronto Blue Jays were heading into Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, so the agents set an early afternoon deadline to avoid a clash of schedules.
Two so-called bullies stepped up before the offer date and the house sold for $1.8-million, or $400,000 over asking.
House hunters have become extremely discerning, with some probing for details on who has lived in the home, says Ms. DeClute.Content Lab
In a recent twist, Ms. DeClute says, potential buyers are also asking lots of questions about the sellers.
House hunters probe for details on who has lived in the house, including how long the current homeowners have been there. Hearing that the sellers lived in the house a long time and raised their kids there, for example, seems to appeal to buyers.
“They want context,” she says. “They want to know the story.”
Sometimes buyers ask outright if the sellers are under financial pressure.
“Obviously we can’t disclose the motivation,” she says of the reason for the sale, but the agents do fill in as many details as they can.
“When we work with sellers, we ask all kinds of questions.”
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The research can also be reassuring to buyers who want to know that the homeowners made high-quality improvements for themselves and not just cosmetic updates in the hopes of a quicker sale.
With so many buyers keen on purchasing a move-in ready home, Ms. DeClute says, some are trying to ensure they’re not buying a fixer-upper that’s been given a hasty makeover. If they see the walls have been recently painted, they want to know what’s under the fresh coat.
“They can sense it as soon as they walk in the door,” she says of a property that’s been redone for a quick flip.
In some cases, house hunters appear to be seeking assurance the house is imbued with positive vibes.
So many buyers are keen on purchasing a move-in ready home, Ms. DeClute says.Content Lab
In the midtown neighbourhoods of Leaside and Davisville, Patrick Rocca, broker with Bosley Real Estate, says sales in October have been brisk but buyers remain choosy.
“This has been my busiest month of the year,” he says.
Mr. Rocca has not been setting offer dates in recent weeks because many buyers are still hesitant to jump into a bidding contest.
“I’ve seen them backfire,” he says, explaining that some sellers receive zero bids and then needs to list at a higher price.
But in this uneven market, Mr. Rocca has sold some homes in competition that sprang up organically. When one offer lands, he notifies the agents who showed the property to a buyer. The news that one bid has landed will often draw a second or third.
That’s what happened on Keewatin Avenue, where Mr. Rocca listed a modern, three-storey house with an asking price around the $2.5-million mark.
Two weeks later, one set of buyers submitted an offer.
“They eventually offered and then the other party jumped in.”
The two rivals submitted very similar offers, and both were significantly below asking, he says.
The sellers accepted the deal with the more convenient closing date.
“The market spoke and they were realistic,” he says.
In other instances, sellers have set a realistic asking price, but buyers still try to play hardball.
“I’ve got properties listed for $1.6-million and they want to get it for $1.45-million,” he says. “But it was $1.8-million two years ago.”
The healthy portion of the market is below $2.5-million, he says. Above that level, sellers may have a long wait.
And while prices have held up relatively well in the traditional family neighbourhoods of Leaside and Davisville, many of the homes coming to market need the type of renovation that few buyers are willing to tackle.
“It’s a very stressful time if you’ve been in a house 40, 50, 60 years,” he says.
Slow sales so far in 2025 have led to a tide of cancelled listings by homeowners who have failed to sell in the Greater Toronto Area. Many potential sellers are also reluctant to list when they see a “for sale” sign linger on a neighbour’s lawn.
In September, active listings in the GTA decreased by 4.7 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis to mark the fifth consecutive contraction, notes Daren King, senior economist at National Bank of Canada.
Overall, market conditions in the non-condo portion of the market tightened slightly in September, Mr. King says, but continued to be among the softest since data began in 2011.
Against that backdrop, many people trading homes prefer to sell first, says Ms. DeClute.
But one agent at Union Realty is helping homeowners who are grappling with the challenge of having already bought their next property, says Ms. DeClute.
A couple of prospective buyers have been hovering, but neither has brought an offer. The frustrated agent was considering cutting the asking price, but Ms. DeClute suggested reviving the tactic of having the sellers draw up an offer to the buyers.
Ms. DeClute hasn’t used the practice in many years, but it was effective during downturns of the past, she says.
“There’s no reason you can’t do that,” she says. “For someone who has purchased already, we have to think outside the box.”
She adds that some sellers who are slow to accept the current trend are chasing the market down.
Ms. DeClute points to a detached house in the east-end neighbourhood of Clairlea around St. Clair Avenue East and Pharmacy Avenue.
Nine months ago, an agent on the DeClute team took prospective buyers to see the small bungalow with an asking price just over $900,000.
The buyers submitted a firm offer at the full asking price, but the sellers rejected their bid.
Eventually, the sellers dropped their asking price to $850,000.
The same buyers returned this month and submitted an offer - again at the full asking price - but this time they made the deal conditional on financing. The homeowners accepted.
“As a seller, it’s important to be very strategic,” says Ms. DeClute, noting that some homeowners are still testing the market to see if they can fetch a higher price.
In this case, the buyers did return, but the sellers walked away with less after sitting for most of the year.
“It cost them $50,000 in terms of rejecting the first offer.”
Ms. DeClute’s team listed one stately Beaches home overlooking the Glen Stewart Ravine with an asking price of $1.799.000. That’s about $150,000 less than the agents estimated when they first spoke with the homeowners.
But the sellers were well-versed in the current dynamics and, after two weeks, accepted an offer for $1,765,000.
Ms. DeClute says the sale price might have been higher in previous years but the home needs substantial updating, including the removal of knob and tube wiring.
As November arrives, Mr. Rocca is fielding lots of calls from sellers who are contemplating a sale. Many wonder if they should list now or wait until the spring.
The fall market will wind down in about six weeks, he points out, so any homeowners who want to sell before the end of the year need to list soon.
“If you don’t have your house on the market in the next couple weeks, wait.”