December 16th, 2025 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on December 10th that its overnight rate will remain at 2.25%. The Bank expects final domestic demand will grow in Q4, but with an anticipated decline in net exports. Overall growth is forecast to pick up in 2026, although uncertainty remains high. The prime rate remains 4.45%.
Additionally this week:
– Urbanation: Asking rents in Canada were down 3.1% yearly in November to an average of $2,074, marking the 14th straight month of annual declines. Also down 1.5% monthly, the largest such drop of 2025. Ontario rents were down 3.5%. Rents now at the lowest level since June 2023.
– Royal LePage forecasts that the aggregate price of a home in Canada would rise 1% yearly in the fourth quarter of 2026 to $823,016, with single-family homes up 2% to $876,934 and condos down 2.5% to $563,918. Royal LePage framed that outlook as the product of a turbulent 2025.
– The Harris Poll Canada study: 62% of potential first-time buyers cite the current economic environment as a factor negatively impacting their finances and delaying home buying plans. Other top concerns include affordability at 56%, followed by uncertainty about the future at 47%.
– Condo sales in November in the 416 core fell 21.8% yearly to 880 units, while transactions in the surrounding 905 dropped 21.4% to 419. That total of 1,299 condo sales was 21.7% lower than a year earlier. Average prices also slipped 3.8% for a GTA-wide condo average of $663,290.
– Statistics Canada: The economy added roughly 54,000 jobs in November, marking a third straight month of gains and bringing the three‑month total to about 181,000. Unemployment dropped to 6.5%, from 6.9% in October, its lowest level since mid‑2024. Economists had expected 7%.
– Statistics Canada: In Q3 the average advertised rent for two-bedroom apartments fell in 24 of the country’s 40 largest census metropolitan areas, including notable drops in major markets such as Toronto (–3.9 %) and Vancouver (–5.9 %). Rents dropped to around $2,720 in Toronto.
– TRREB: November saw a 15.8% yearly slide in sales to 5,010. Average selling prices remain above the $1 million mark but slipped by 6.4%. New listings dropped by 4%, falling to 11,134. But active inventory was still higher than a year prior, climbing by 16.8% to 24,549.
Stay tuned for the next update!
For any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to call Harpreet Singh The Mortgage King at (416) 795-1919.
