Low mortgage rates and low real estate prices could converge and the Home of the Week: Canadian real estate news for September 13

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Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week and one home worth a look.

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The moment where low mortgage rates and low real estate prices meet is coming

If you’re a home buyer on the sidelines, take note: we’re about to reach that sought-after period when you can purchase a house in a slower, cheaper market where mortgage rates are at a level you can stomach, writes Salmaan Farooqui. Mortgage brokers and realtors say it is difficult to predict when that moment might come, but it may be in the late fall or early winter if interest rates keep falling consistently. Today, real estate prices are still wildly higher than they were prepandemic, but with their recent declines, real estate experts say the ideal time for buyers to come off the sidelines is nearing. They recommend that anyone expecting to purchase in the next few months should get a mortgage preapproval now so they know where they stand and are ready to act fast.

Opinion: Young adults increasingly find their best financial move is to live with their parents – is that bad?

Remember the cliché of millennials living slothfully in their parents’ basement, most likely binging on video games? Almost two decades ago, it took years for society to accept that moving back home was a response to tough economic conditions that flowed out of the 2008-09 financial crisis, and not a generational failing, writes personal finance columnist Rob Carrick. Let’s hope we can be more open-minded in assessing the latest migration of young adults back to the family home, which is happening in response to the economic shocks caused by the pandemic. Perhaps there’s even a case to be made that moving home is the smart move in a tough economy. That means more young people will likely be moving home for relief from the high cost of rent, groceries and other living costs, and to help save down payments for home purchases.

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Tribunal sides with service dogs in scrap with Waterloo condo

A recent ruling in a condominium case zeroes in on the question of how much personal or medical information a disabled person needs to share to qualify for human rights protections, including the accommodation of service dogs, writes Shane Dingman. In August, a Waterloo, Ont. condo corporation was hit with a $15,000 penalty after seeking to enforce a one-dog-only rule against a couple who each have medical diagnoses and service animals to assist them. Under the Ontario Human Rights Code disabled persons are entitled to a reasonable accommodation of their needs, and while The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has ruled in the past that the right to accommodation is not absolute experts say there’s substantial case law ordering parties to look for solutions. According to requests for costs filed, the condo has already spent nearly $40,000 on legal fees to pursue these matters.

High borrowing costs, record condo completions lead to oversupply in Greater Toronto Area

A new report by a Toronto-Dominion Bank economist said sales activity in the Greater Toronto Area hasn’t been absorbing supply fast enough. The trend is tied to factors such as a wave of newly built condos hitting the market, elevated borrowing rates that have made it difficult for some buyers to close on their mortgages, and investors looking to sell properties as declining rents and negative cash flow make them unprofitable. The factors have made it less enticing to hold a condo as an investment, the report says, and experts say it will take a gradual recovery for the supply to balance out.

Home of the Week: 1850s St. Andrews home has connection to celebrated Black artist

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142 Queen St, St. Andrews, N.B. – Full gallery here

The former owners of this Neo-Classical brick building that dates back to 1847 learned fairly early on that the home had more than one historical significance, and may even have a connection to Edward Mitchell Bannister, a significant Canadian-American Black artist. The six-bedroom home is more than 5,000 square feet over three levels. On the main floor is a billiards room with much of the original moulding and trim preserved, including a gracefully arched pocket-door that leads to formal dining room at the rear. On the second level the two wings are occupied by two large bedroom suites with connected ensuite baths. At the back of the building is the former servants stairs to the attic rooms, now refurbished into a series of bright and spacious guest quarters with skylights and a preserved chimney, which was once thought to be painted by Bannister himself.