This three-bedroom sidesplit at 1176 Greenoaks Dr. in Mississauga, Ont. had a January asking price of $1,949,999.Rish Kumanan/Rish Kumanan
Level-headed sellers bringing their properties to market in early 2026 are finding an audience of receptive buyers.
The down-to-earth asking prices appear to have disarmed the folks who favoured tossing lowball offers in 2025.
Matthew Regan, broker with Re/Max Escarpment Realty, tallied two quick sales in Mississauga as the new year began.
“Very realistic sellers” were the common element in both deals, he says.
What home can $1-million buy for a couple seeking ‘upscale but not ostentatious’ in Kelowna?
“Buyers did not wake up Jan. 1 and say, ‘Let’s go buy a house,’” says Mr. Regan. Most of the house hunters placing offers on the table now had been looking at properties and watching prices throughout the third and fourth quarters of 2025, he says.
Buyers seeing fair asking prices were willing to submit strong offers, which is a shift from last year’s mood, he adds.
“I’m not saying prices are going up,” Mr. Regan says, but in his opinion, values do not have a lot farther to fall.
It sold for $2.050-million, despite a huge snowstorm, after 27 showings.Rish Kumanan/Rish Kumanan
In the coveted Lorne Park neighbourhood, Mr. Regan’s team listed a three-bedroom sidesplit at 1176 Greenoaks Dr., with an asking price of $1,949,999 on a Friday in January.
Despite the wallop of snow the region received over the weekend, the house had 27 showings and drew three bids on Monday. It sold for $2.05-million.
“We didn’t think we had priced it low,” says Mr. Regan, who did not set a date for reviewing offers. “We were all surprised.”
The house was move-in ready, with a renovated kitchen, saltwater pool and custom closet system in the primary bedroom.
Mr. Regan says a comparable house would have fetched between $2.35-million and $2.45-million at the height of the market in 2021 or 2022.
Prices have been in a long, slow correction since that time, he says, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats worsening the meltdown “like gasoline on an open fire” last spring.
Luxury sector only bright spot amid Toronto’s new-build condo market collapse
Around the same time, a large cohort of sellers flooded the market with inventory, he adds.
“It was all unrealistically priced, so no one bought it,” he says. “Just because you have an inflated price doesn’t mean a buyer has to pay it.”
Now seller fatigue has set in among homeowners who have seen “days on market” stretch to 90 and sometimes 120 days, he says.
“It’s exhausting,” he says of the effort to keep the house pristine for showings.
The prices set by pragmatic new sellers and disheartened homeowners who have failed to sell are bolstering the confidence of buyers, he says, who are less fearful of overpaying for a property.
Broker Matthew Regan says a comparable house would have fetched between $2.35-million and $2.45-million at the height of the market in 2021 or 2022.Rish Kumanan/Rish Kumanan
Consumers are less anxious about inflation, he says, and many also figure that interest rates will remain stable for a while, which makes them less inclined to wait for further cuts.
“It drove buyers crazy,” he says of the indecision they felt while the Bank of Canada cut its key lending rate at seven consecutive meetings.
On Jan. 28, the central bank kept the policy rate at 2.25 per cent, where it has been since October.
Bay Street is predicting the central bank will remain on hold through 2026.
“Now families can make purchasing decisions with much more clarity than they could a year or two ago,” says Mr. Regan. “There’s no more guessing.”
At another Lorne Park address, a four-bedroom house that was nearly untouched since the 1970s was listed with an asking price of $1,489,999. It sold after one day for the full asking price, says Mr. Regan.
The recent buyers have tended to be families trading up.
“There’s a trend right now where if you’re downsizing, you’re going to get hammered,” he says. “There’s so much opportunity out there if you’re a move-up buyer.”
The house was move-in ready, with a renovated kitchen, saltwater pool and custom closet system in the primary bedroom.Rish Kumanan/Rish Kumanan
One silver lining for downsizers is that they can make a favourable trade if they are willing to move to a condo.
“You’ll get a smoking good deal on them right now,” says Mr. Regan. “Condo owners are so underwater they’ll take any offer that’s put in front of them.”
In Toronto’s west end, Luke Dalinda, real estate agent with Royal LePage Real Estate Services, sees signs that even that troubled segment of the market is firming up.
Mr. Dalinda notes that inventory at Humber Bay Shores has dropped to 189 active listings at the end of January from more than 300 last summer.
While some of the listings were pulled by sellers who plan to try the rental market or wait for more favourable conditions, many were purchased by buyers, he says.
The best (and worst) renovations to maximize your home value
In January, there were 26 sales in the neighbourhood, he notes.
“Sales are absorbing a meaningful portion of what’s come off the shelf.”
Lowball offers are still prevalent in the bracket of tiny “shoebox” condos where buyers believe they have more leverage, he says, but fewer are landing for large condos in well-established buildings.
He also finds that sellers are more willing to set realistic prices.
At 15 Legion Rd., a one-plus-one bedroom unit sold after a total of 122 days on market. In September suite 1105 was listed with an asking price of $598,000.
But after the most recent price cut to $525,000, the property sold 17 days later for $515,000.
At 2662 Bloor St. W., suite 502 sold for $925,000 eight days after the two-bedroom unit was listed with an asking price of $989,000.
Mr. Dalinda says the location near Old Mill, combined with an intelligent floor plan of approximately 1,068 square feet, helped to sell the unit quickly.
While buyers may have gained some optimism in the current environment, National Bank of Canada economists caution that the country’s economy stagnated in November according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
Deputy chief economist Matthieu Arseneau and senior economist Alexandra Ducharme point to zero growth in gross domestic product in the month as the manufacturing sector contracted.
Overall, the economists say, the weak fourth quarter numbers suggest the Canadian economy remains fragile due to the uncertainty surrounding trade and tariffs.