Move Smartly: The Podcast

Hosted by Move Smartly

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100

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Nov 2026

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About the show

The Move Smartly podcast invites you into data-driven conversations about issues impacting residential real estate in Toronto, across Canada and beyond. Join broker John Pasalis and other experts as we unpack real estate through a variety of timely market updates, lively discussions and insightful interviews. Here to help you make more informed decisions, whether you are a home buyer, seller, owner or renter, and as a resident and voter — because real estate impacts all of us. New episodes on Fridays. Look for our monthly Real Estate Roundtable with Steve Saretsky (The Loonie Hour Podcast) and Ben Rabidoux (Edge Realty Analytics).

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60 recent

November 13, 202655 min

Toronto's Housing Market Is Slowing. What Happens Next?

In this month's live, we took a closer look at the latest GTA housing market stats and trends, including the slowest year for home sales since 2000 and the busiest year ever for rentals. We also caught up with Move Smartly Realtors Gus and Davin to hear what they're seeing on the ground, why patience is key when negotiating in today's market, and how buyers are increasingly focused on finding long-term homes that suit their needs, with most making a move because they genuinely want or need to. Mortgage expert David Larock joined us to discuss the Bank of Canada's controversial decision to raise interest rates, walking us through the arguments for and against the hike and what it could mean for mortgage borrowers moving forward. Set-up a meeting with John Pasalis and his agents at Move Smartly to discuss your own real estate questions privately : https://www.movesmartly.com/meetjohn Sign up for our email list to be alerted to the next online market update to join our YouTube session live chat and ask your own Qs: https://www.movesmartly.com/monthly-public-webinar We hope you enjoyed this month's update and found it valuable. Thanks for tuning in - we'll see you next month!

November 6, 202647 min

Are More Rate Hikes Coming? What It Means for Canadian Home Prices

Housing markets in Ontario and BC are slowing, and the Bank of Canada just raised rates for the first time since 2023. In this month's roundtable, John Pasalis, Steve Saretsky and David Larock look at what's happening on the ground in Toronto and Vancouver, and why sales and prices continue to soften in both regions. They also discuss the outlook for another two to three hikes from the Bank of Canada, and what that means for buyers, sellers and homeowners heading into a mortgage renewal. Finally, they debate a question gaining traction: should Canada ease the mortgage stress test to stimulate a struggling housing market, and what are the risks if it does?

November 3, 202643 min

When the Equity Runs Out: Why More Homeowners Are Going Broke

For fifteen years, Ontario homeowners in financial trouble had a way out. They could refinance, borrow against the house, or sell into a rising market. That way out is closing. In 2022, about one in sixty people who filed for insolvency with Doug Hoyes's firm owned a home. Today it's one in nine. The equity behind those homes has collapsed. In 2021, the typical homeowner filing a consumer proposal with his firm held $154,000 in equity. This year it's $20,000, and nearly one in four owe more than the house is worth. Doug is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee who has been tracking homeowner filings since 1999. We get into what's behind the collapse: falling prices, or a wave of 2021–22 buyers with thin down payments now hitting renewal. We also cover why more Ontarians are going straight to bankruptcy, what his model says about the year ahead, and what to do if you're covering the gap with credit. Doug hosts Debt Free in 30, a podcast and YouTube show on personal debt and how to get out of it. Find it wherever you listen, or at hoyes.com.

October 23, 202639 min

What Australia Can Teach Canada About Foreign Buyers and Investor Tax Breaks

Canada's foreign buyer ban expires January 1, and Ottawa is reportedly looking at Australia's model as a replacement: let foreign buyers purchase new homes, keep them out of existing ones. I spoke with Australian economist Cameron Murray, author of The Great Housing Hijack , about how that has worked in Australia and what Canada should take from it. Australia's housing market looked bulletproof for years. Prices boomed during COVID and rebounded in 2023 while the central bank was still raising rates. That's no longer the case. After four rate hikes this year, national prices are down more than 5% from their March peak and Sydney is down more than 8%. Australia has also overhauled how it taxes property investors, ending key tax breaks on existing homes while keeping them for new builds. Canada has the same tax treatment Australia is moving away from, but it barely comes up in our housing debate. We also discuss whether foreign buyers actually moved Australian prices, whether steering them toward new construction adds supply, and what it says about new housing if projects depend on foreign buyers to get built. Cameron Murray is an Australian economist specializing in housing and property markets. He is the author of The Great Housing Hijack , co-author of Rigged , and runs the Fresh Economic Thinking newsletter and podcast at fresheconomicthinking.com.

October 16, 202650 min

GTA Housing Market: Better Deals, New Strategies & Mortgage Rates

In this month's live, we took a closer look at the latest GTA housing market stats and trends, along with our new First-Time Homebuyer Report , exploring where buyers can find homes under $1M in great school districts and how MoveSmartly.com can help make that search easier. We also caught up with Davin and Gus from our team to hear what they're seeing on the ground this fall, what buyers and sellers should keep in mind, and why multiple offers don't always mean paying well over asking. Mortgage expert David Larock joined us to break down the latest U.S. inflation numbers and what they could mean for the Bank of Canada and mortgage rates here at home. Set-up a meeting with John Pasalis and his agents at Move Smartly to discuss your own real estate questions privately : https://www. movesmartly.com/meetjohn Read our full report on the top GTA neighbourhoods for first-time buyers looking for great schools and homes under $1M: https://insights.movesmartly. com/first-time-buyer- neighbourhoods-great-schools Sign up for our email list to be alerted to the next online market update to join our YouTube session live chat and ask your own Qs: https://www.movesmartly. com/monthly-public-webinar We hope you enjoyed this month's update and found it valuable. Thanks for tuning in - we'll see you next month!

October 9, 202652 min

Home Prices Aren't Bouncing Back This Fall. Here's Why.

Steve Saretsky and David Larock join this month's roundtable on the housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver. The fall market stalled in September, and the panel explains why a big rebound looks unlikely before year end. Rates are also moving the wrong way for buyers. Even with the Bank of Canada on hold, fixed mortgage rates are rising. David explains what's driving that and what it means for borrowers. Finally, will Canada let foreign buyers back in? With the federal ban set to expire, Ottawa is considering allowing foreigners to buy new homes. The panel debates whether that would help clear unsold condos or bring back the speculation that created the glut.

October 2, 202645 min

Cheap Mortgages Aren't Coming Back: What That Means for House and Condo Prices

For more than a decade, Canadians borrowed on the assumption that interest rates would always come back down. BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic says that assumption no longer holds. In this episode, Robert explains why BMO believes the era of low real interest rates is officially over. He sees it as a long-term shift, not a temporary spike that the next rate-cutting cycle will undo. We discuss what that means for housing, especially in the GTA. Robert sees the market splitting in two. Larger ground-oriented homes are firming, while the small condo market remains saturated and investors have largely walked away. He says he can see house prices levelling off while condo prices continue to trend down. We close with the AI-driven stock market boom, which Robert places in the "seventh inning stretch" of a classic asset bubble, and what happens when it ends. Robert Kavcic is Director and Senior Economist at BMO Capital Markets. His research is available at economics.bmo.com.

September 25, 202638 min

How Will You Know When the Market Hits Bottom? And What to Do With a Rental That Loses $900 a Month

Every month, John Pasalis and Davin McMahon take real situations from real people and work through them on air. This month, four of them come back to the same question from different directions: what do you do when you think prices haven't finished falling? A buyer who has been waiting since last year wants to know what a bottom actually looks like in the data, before it's obvious to everyone. A couple in Etobicoke has been on the market since May, cut their price twice, and can't get an offer. A pair of empty nesters with no mortgage are wondering whether to sell, rent for a few years, and buy back in. And a small landlord is $900 a month out of pocket on a condo with a tenant who isn't going anywhere. Then a fifth situation, which is about what a slow market does to the people selling houses rather than the houses themselves. Two first-time buyers with a hard $800,000 ceiling keep getting shown listings $75,000 to $100,000 above it, on the theory that those sellers are desperate.

September 18, 202631 min

How Seniors Are Losing Their Homes to Mortgages They Didn't Understand

Two people knocked on Mr. Bouchard's door. He didn't invite them. They got him to sign documents he says he didn't understand, and left without giving him copies. Then they registered a charge against his house for $30,999.85. Money started leaving his bank account every month. Years later, a notice of sale arrived. To keep his home, he was told to pay $80,711.29. That's a real case, decided this year by the Ontario Superior Court. And according to my guest, it's one of dozens involving the same companies, the same people, and in some cases the same lawyers. David Sterns is a partner at Sotos Class Actions. He's acting without fee, alongside lawyers from the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, in a case that alleges a pattern of fraudulent and unconscionable mortgages registered against the homes of older Ontarians. We go through how it works, step by step. Who knocks first, who comes back promising to fix it, where the money actually goes, and how a charge ends up on title without the owner knowing. If you own your home, the last part of this conversation is the practical one. What to look for, how to check what's registered against your property, and who to call if you find something you can't explain.

September 11, 202653 min

📉 GTA Home Buyers Hit Pause — Plus, A Big Announcement

In this week's live, we covered the latest GTA market stats and discussed our latest company announcement as we officially begin a new chapter as Move Smartly . We also looked at our newly published report on the Top 10 Toronto Airbnb Condos where short-term rentals dominate. Move Smartly agents Gus and Davin shared their insights on what they're seeing on the ground and where they think the market is headed. Mortgage expert David Larock shared his take on the Bank of Canada's latest announcement, including its more hawkish tone and the growing expectation that interest rates could rise. Set-up a meeting with John Pasalis and his agents at Move Smartly to discuss your own real estate questions privately : https://www. movesmartly.com/meetjohn Sign up for our email list to be alerted to the next online market update to join our YouTube session live chat and ask your own Qs: https://www.movesmartly. com/monthly-public-webinar We hope you enjoyed this month's update and found it valuable. Thanks for tuning in - we'll see you next month!