Bunnypatch

Will it be TACO Tuesday again?

If so, no surprise. Trump’s pattern of threatening to wipe out Iran’s civilization, followed by… “they desperately want a deal with me…” is routine now. Last week he said that country’s leadership was reasonable. This week they’re scum. So the war continues. Oil is eighty bucks again. But the drama is fading.

Maybe that’s why more Canadians are finding their way back into the real estate market. As reported here, sales shot ahead last month in major hubs like the GTA and the LM. Price declines have abated. And now there is (gasp) a forecast that prices will end 2026 higher than a year ago.

Okay, I know. This comes form Royal LePage, the house-flogging empire of Phil Soper. Realtors these days enjoy the same credibility as American military strategists. But it’s worth considering a view that actually dovetails with recent market stats.

The average house price in Canada is forecast to be 2% higher at the end of the year, pushing it to $823,344. That’s double the last prediction, by the way.

The biggest gainers: Quebec City (+8%), Montreal and Winnipeg (+5%) plus Halifax, Edmonton and Regina (+4%). In contrast, Toronto is expected to have an average price that’s 2% less than at the end of 2025, and Vancouver will finish down 3.5%.

This needs some context, of course. In February of 2022 the average detached home in the GTA was trading for $1.7 million. Lately it’s settled at $1.36 million. In 416, the top-ever detached average hit $2.074 million that month, and is now $1.65 million – a decline of $424,000, or more than 21%. So an average annual decline of 5-6% will become a dip of 2%, says LePage. And after that, zero?

In other words, the price plop is ending, the company suggests. The bottom is at hand. In fact, it’s come and gone in much of Canada. Where the Covid-crazy FOMO-fueled pandemonium was absent and people didn’t lose their minds in bidding wars, blind auctions and bully offers, the value of real estate is actually rising.

We might as well talk about Regina.

(Have spent many a lovely day at the Hotel Sask, home to the country’s finest lounge collection of bunny prints. Seriously. Go see.)

Houses in Saskatoon are cheap and at a record price at the same time: the benchmark is just over $356,000. That’s a gain of 5% in the past year. The average selling prise is $376,500 – also a record.

This is a seller’s market, with less than two-month supply of inventory, only half the long-term average, The provincial economy is robust. Migration is healthy and demand is rising. The average age is 37. Population is 265,000. And did I mention Regina is cheap?

At $376,000 the average house costs 4.2 times the average household income – compared with ratios of 12 in you-know-where.

Weather? Regina receives less annual snow than Quebec, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto or The Peg – in case you wondered.

Now will the comments section brim with excuses why nobody should live in an affordable, pleasant, robust, growing city like Regina which also has great rabbit motifs?

Of course. That emphasizes the shallow knowledge most of us have of the rest of the country. We’d rather sit in Kitsilano or Leaside and whine about how our parents could buy a house there in 1973 and we can’t. Moan. Snivel.

Conclusions: the real estate correction is probably over. In fact, in most of the nation, it is. A little more to come in the bitter places, probably, but along with that will emerge greater competition and less choice. Waiters will likely not be winners.

Obviously if you want and need a house you can afford in a place with integrity and promise, get the hell out of Dodge.

About the picture: “It’s great that your Blog has created a money generating enterprise for you and clients,” writes Joe. “It’s always a pleasure to read your comments. Here’s a photo of our majestic Labadoodle in response to your request for pooch pictures. A true friend and playtime tease that just can’t resist kitchen counter surfing for an abandoned food item.”

Note to readers: We are, once again, almost down to the cats. Time for more dog lovers to be bold, step up and remind the nation of why this blog actually exists. To send a picture of your beast, email to ‘[email protected]’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/07/14/bunnypatch/