Toronto's Housing Month: Renewals, a Slowdown, and Luxury Condos

Every month I like to pull together the housing stories that actually matter for people in Toronto and across Canada. This month there are three worth your time. One is about mortgage payments and the renewal wave coming this year. One is a wider look at how different Canadian markets are holding up. The last is a surprising report on the luxury condo scene.

I am Moe Asgarian, a senior real estate broker in Toronto and ranked among the top brokers at RE/MAX worldwide. Here is my quick read on all three.

A wave of mortgage renewals in 2025

Royal LePage put out a report saying more than one million mortgages are set to renew in Canada during 2025. For a lot of households that means a bigger payment. The report found that 57% of people renewing will pay more than they did when they first signed. Rates climbed hard over the past few years, so someone who locked in around 2.25 or 2.5% could be renewing near 4%. That gap shows up every month. People usually respond by trimming spending, and some move into a smaller place. Others can restructure the renewal so the monthly jump is not so sharp. The encouraging part is that with all the economic noise and the tariff talk, rates may come down faster than expected. If you are renewing soon, you might get a better rate over the next few months than the one you see today.

Where the national market stands

RBC published a market report, and I wanted to flag it because the tariff fight is hitting the whole country, not just Toronto. The short version is that fear about the trade war has made buyers across Canada pause. Bad weather in many regions kept people home too. Early numbers show sales fell sharply between January and February. Toronto took the worst of it, with transactions at a low. Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Calgary and Montreal were not much better. Because a lot of homes got listed in January, buyers had more choice, and the bargaining power tilted their way, especially in Vancouver and Toronto. Edmonton is still performing well with prices rising, though it is not immune. RBC's take is that if the trade tension drags on, buyers may pull back further, and the spring season that is usually busy could stay quiet.

Luxury condos defy the slowdown

The Toronto Star ran a report on why the luxury condo market keeps humming even while the wider condo market is slow. They pointed to condos in the three to four million dollar range that work for families because of the space, the amenities and the setup. Some buyers would rather take a high-end condo than a house. One stat stood out: the number of condos around the four million dollar mark that changed hands grew 12% over the prior year. The report walked through several luxury projects, most of them in midtown Toronto, in the four to seventeen million dollar world. It is a different market from the one most buyers live in.

What this means for you

Put the three together and you get a market that is cautious at the entry level, softer nationally, and still hot at the very top. If you are renewing, buying or selling this year, the moves are all about timing. Want to talk through where you fit? Fill out the form at the bottom of this page or book a free consultation, and we can look at your numbers together. Stay well and take care.