The semi-detached segment – which is often the entry point for buyers in the single-family home market – vastly outperformed other housing types in July.Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press
Buyers and sellers in the Toronto-area real estate market this summer appear to be growing restless following many months of angst: interest rates are stuck in a holding pattern and U.S. President Donald Trump continues to upend trade and geopolitics.
“I think there’s Trump fatigue,” says Patrick Rocca, broker with Bosley Real Estate. “People have realized this could be the new norm.”
Many homeowners and potential buyers remain cautious, but others are moving on to a new phase of life.
The next move: It’s ‘the summer of lowballing’ in Toronto’s real estate market
Semi-detached houses have been the hottest commodity in the midtown neighbourhoods of Leaside and Davisville, where he does much of his business.
“We’re seeing crazy things in the semi market,” he says. “I wish I had 10 of them.”
Overall, Mr. Rocca says the summer has been busier than he expected after a typical pace for June.
Homes that show well and are well-priced sometimes draw multiple offers, he says, but many people are also striving to pay less than the asking price.
“We’ve still got a lot of buyers who are looking for a steal.”
The semi-detached segment – which is often the entry point for buyers in the single-family home market – vastly outperformed other housing types in July, according to the latest numbers from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.
In the central 416 area code, sales of semis soared 48 per cent last month compared with July, 2024.
By comparison, sales of detached houses rose 12.5 per cent in the 416 in the same period, and townhouses, 12.7 per cent.
The average price for a semi in the 416 in July was $1,242,388.
In the Deer Park neighbourhood, real estate agent Dino Capocci of Royal LePage Real Estate Services sold a three-bedroom semi four days after listing the property with an asking price of $2.09-million.
The seller accepted an offer of $2.075-million from out-of-town buyers who hastily arranged a trip to Toronto to see the home during the August long weekend.
Mr. Capocci advised the homeowner to list in August because there was low inventory in the area near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West.
The 1980s-era semi at 16 Duggan Ave. was a bit dated, Mr. Capocci says, so he preferred to launch the property when there are fewer competing homes on the market.
“I know for sure some stuff is going to come up in September, all dolled up and staged,” he says.
16 Duggan Ave., TorontoMisho Shaltout/Misho Shaltout
Mr. Capocci adds that prices have softened in the core: When the homeowner asked him for an estimate of the property’s value last year, he suggested a sale price of around $2.2-million.
The strategy of setting an attention-getting asking price and a date for reviewing offers is hit-and-miss in the current market, he adds.
Mr. Capocci tried that tactic in Bedford Park earlier in the summer when he listed a semi-detached house with an asking price around the $1.49-million mark.
The highest of two offers was $1.42-million, he says, which is less than the sellers paid for the house seven years ago.
“It failed miserably,” says Mr. Capocci of the offer date, when the sellers rejected both bids.
The house sold for $1.47-million three weeks later after lengthy negotiations with a third buyer.
Mr. Capocci believes some potential buyers had been holding off this summer as they anticipated a possible interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada at the end of July.
When the central bank held its key rate steady at that policy-setting meeting, some buyers gave up waiting.
The next move: Price cuts spark a July surge in Toronto-area home sales
The market in August appears slightly slower as many people travel on vacation and sellers wait until after Labour Day to list, he adds.
Meanwhile, the lagging condo sector has likely been acting as a drag on other parts of the market, Mr. Capocci says.
In the past, first-time buyers would build up some equity in a condo unit and use that as a stepping stone to a single-family home. But with prices sliding, many owners no longer have that option.
“The condo owners are now under water. They’re not buying the bigger house.”
In some cases, people are moving out of town to a more affordable region.
Still, there are some signs of a shift.
“I’m starting to see movement – believe it or not – in condos,” says Mr. Rocca, as the July data shows a 3.4 per cent uptick in July from the same month last year.
Mr. Rocca recently listed four units held by one investor in a high-rise on Bay Street. The building often attracts students who attend the University of Toronto, he says.
He listed the one-bedroom units in the $500,000 range and was pleasantly surprised when two had sold within two weeks, he says.
The national market saw a 3.8 per cent rise in sales in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
“Activity continues to pick up through the transition from the spring to the summer market, which is the opposite of a normal year, but this has not been a normal year,” says CREA chair Valerie Paquin.
At Capital Economics, North America economist Alexandra Brown and assistant economist Harry Chambers expect that Canadian home prices will broadly stagnate over the next six months before growth finally turns positive on a sustained basis next year.
Looking towards September, Mr. Rocca is expecting a fairly brisk tempo of sales.
“I’m fielding lots of calls from people who want to sell,” he says. “Others wonder if they should wait until spring.”
Mr. Rocca advises clients that the decision all depends on their personal timing.
“I can tell you what’s happening now – and I’m seeing some positive signs.”
If homeowners want to wait until the spring, he sees no reason to believe the market will be worse. But the spring of 2026 is too far in the future to know with any certainty and forecasts in the recent past have been way off.
“We haven’t had a normal market in years,” the veteran agent points out. “We’ve had crazy, crazy springs; we’ve had crazy, crazy falls, dead springs, dead falls. Who would have thought this spring would have been as weird as it was – or that July would be the best in four or five years?”