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Jeffrey
We’re here again with Patrick Rocca, Bosley Real Estate. And it’s the beginning of February 2026 and in this very snowy spring market, I’d like to ask Patrick to introduce himself and tell everyone what he does.Patrick Rocca
Good morning, Jeffrey, happy New Year. I think we can still say that. I haven’t talked to you since the end of last year, but is, yes, Patrick Rocca from Bosley Real Estate here in Midtown, Leaside Davisville area, and yeah, I’m here for all your real estate needs.Jeffrey
Thank you. And Patrick, I just noticed an article which said that the new home prices in the GTA slid even further at the end of 2025 and they were down about 25% from the peak. Now, people may look at this and if they’re in the market for an existing home, not a new build, they may think that this is a fantastic sign for them. But if you could please tell us the difference between these stats in new home builds versus what’s happening in the resale market.Patrick Rocca
Yeah, no, I’m happy to address that. I can tell you, unequivocally that, you know, new homes are not, plentiful, in the, in the midtown area. I mean, you do get infill housing, bungalows that have been torn down, and obviously these newer, custom built homes that are being built, but I think in general, if you look at new home construction, it’s not as prevalent as the resale market in, especially in the central core. there are, there are several newer built homes. but interestingly enough those are the homes that are lagging. when you look at the market in general, specifically in my area, newer homes that were built in the last year or so are kind of just sitting there.
I think we might have addressed this before in a, in a past podcast where, you know, the problem with those homes is that the builders bought them, you know, 3-4 years ago for at the peak of the market. I mean, they were paying $2,000,000 for a bungalow that’s worth 145 today. Carried, built during COVID, during the last couple of years where construction costs were extremely high. and are now in a position where they have to sell them for, let’s say, $4,000,000 plus and they’re actually worth $3.235 million. So, I mean, I can see that, being you know, obviously a factor in the new home sales, but I mean, I think in, if you take new home sales in general across the GTA. I mean there hasn’t been a lot of new home construction. I mean, I think that has really dwindled, from what I’m seeing and hearing. and I think that all goes back to, you know, you know, if we could talk about a housing crisis and you can talk about, you know, new homes being built, but they’re not being built because of, you know, the fees and all the development charges and the time it takes to get approvals. I mean, you know, we talked about, you know, ‘build baby build’, you know, with our, with our new incoming government, and there’s been nothing done. Literally, there’s been no building. and why is that? Well, I mean, you’ve got municipal, you know, barriers, you’ve got provincial barriers. You’ve got taxes, you’ve got, it’s just awful. I mean, I think I read something. And don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure it’s fairly accurate. About a week ago, I read something that to build a home in Toronto. The fees and all the taxes and everything, the charges, add up to about a $100,000 per house. In Moncton, New Brunswick. It’s $10,000.Jeffrey
Wow.Patrick Rocca
So I mean, figure that out. I mean, it’s not, doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that, the cost to build, and the barriers to build, and the, you know, it’s just, it’s not, it’s crazy, and what are we doing? The government’s doing nothing about it. This goes back to the government. This goes, and it’s not just, I’m not talking federally. I talking provincially. I’m talking municipally. I mean it’s just, we are not, you know, we’re we talk a good talk. And we say, okay, let’s build, and we need affordable housing, and we need this, and we need that, but no one’s doing anything to assist in the pipeline.Jeffrey
And I think that, you know, back in the 80s and 90s, even before that, those of us who are old enough to remember, the federal government had an active part to play in constructing housing, especially affordable housing. Now, they’ve stepped away from that a number of decades ago. And as you say, the only levers they really have are policy levers and the levers that you talk about in terms of things like taxes and fees. I heard a condo developer speaking the end of last year and again, don’t quote me on this. They were saying that up to 30% of the cost of a condo development in an urban area are taxes, fees, levies, that sort of thing, not construction costs, not land costs, but everything else that’s required just to get a shovel in the ground.Patrick Rocca
Yeah, that numbers, I think I recall maybe even discussing with you or someone else and hearing that, but it’s fairly accurate. It’s ridiculous. And that’s why, I mean, we are, we are in a, in a serious crisis right now. you know, we have a housing crisis in our in our country. and that’s one of the main reasons. So, I mean, it’s sad. I mean, so I mean, how does that, you know, go over to the resale market, as you had mentioned, you know, how do they, how are they similar or how are they different? Well, I mean, the resale market is down too. I mean, let’s be honest. I mean, if you look at the resale market, compared to 2-3 years ago, we’re down about 26% in value. at from the peak. so, I mean, if you look last year, we were down 6%, you know, year over year, so, I mean, what’s, people, again, this goes back to our economy, and this goes back to consumer confidence, and this goes back to, you know, what will it take to get our market going again? And that’s the $1,000,000 question. I mean, it’s not, you know, I think it’s going to be a fairly rough year. again. you know, they’re projecting, and I read something of Royal LePage article that said that you know 2026 will be a recovery year. I don’t see it short term, for sure, it ain’t, it ain’t happening short term, long term, maybe towards the end of the year.
There could be some movement, but I mean, our economy is not in good shape. I mean, we, this all goes back to consumer confidence, uncertainty. People don’t know what’s going on. I mean, I hate to be Debbie Downer, but it’s a reality. I mean, I’m not going to be one of these realtors that says, Oh yeah, everything’s great. I mean, that’s not the way I am. I mean, I do, however, you know, I am the glass is half full type of guy. I do believe there are great opportunities in this market. If you’re a buyer. You know, you should be buying.
I mean, the rates are low. They’re not going to go much lower. I’m, going on here, but you know, rates aren’t going to go much lower. If anything, there’s been talk that they could have bottomed out and that they will maybe increase towards the 4th quarter. So, I mean, I don’t know what buyers are waiting for. Is the market going to drop another 34%, it could.. Is it gonna drop 10-15%? I don’t see it. Is it off 25, 30%, 100%? So why wouldn’t you buy? I mean, are you trying to predict the bottom?
And again, I’ve said this 1,000,000 times to you and to others. You can’t predict the bottom. you can’t predict the top. So if you’re buying, it’s a great time. If you’re selling people have to sell. Everybody has to sell for various reasons. or not everybody, but people have to sell for various reasons. I mean, whether it’s death, whether it’s separation, whether it’s, you know, moving out of town, whether it’s, you know, there’s all sorts of factors. So if you’re selling, yeah, you’re not getting what you were going to get 3 years ago, so be realistic, but your house will sell. I mean houses are selling. it’s not all doom and gloom. they’re just not selling for what they were 3 years ago, and if you’re waiting for that, you’re gonna wait a long time, you might as well hunker down for another 3 to 5 years because, we’re not going to see those numbers again.Jeffrey
I agree. And I was talking to a couple last week who are actively looking in the market. They’re looking in, you know, the various areas in Midtown, Toronto, in the core, and they’re very frustrated because they’re facing instances where they do get multiple offer situations. They were telling me that they had put an offer in on a house in East York and someone came in and offered $400,000 over the asking price. And I think that there is a lot of frustration, there are houses. But what they’re finding, and you know, this is their experiences that they’re looking for something which is maybe requires a bit of work, but they’re having challenges finding that. Are you finding that there is a lack of inventory of those houses, which maybe require a bit of work? I’m not talking about a full, like, tear down, but maybe that requires, you know, walls removed, basement finish, that sort of thing. Are you finding that there are less of those on the market?Patrick Rocca
Yeah, there is a bit of a, there is a bit of a lack of that inventory and you’re right. I mean, you know, you’re talking about these people that were in multiple offers. We’re still seeing multiple offers. I mean, there’s been instances that I’ve seen in the past 2 weeks where properties are selling for over asking. so, I mean, is that coming back? No, is it prevalent in certain price points in certain homes? Yes, East York being one of them. so, I mean, you know, I think that, to your point. Yeah, it’s hard to find raw product. I just listed something this morning. That’s a, it’s a great, a great bungalow in South Leaside, and I mean, is it, is it raw? No, I mean, does it move in? Yeah, does it need updating? 100%. But it’s got great potential, and hopefully, you know, that will sell. But you’re right. I mean, even though there is more inventory now than there has been, a lot of that is not raw or stuff that is, you know, in need of renovation.Jeffrey
So essentially, they could move in and do the work as they are able to finance it, which in a lot of cases for new buyers, for 1st time buyers, that’s really an ideal situation where, you know, you can bid up to a certain point, you can kind of live in the place, find out really what it’s like and then do your renovations afterwards.Patrick Rocca
Yeah, 100%. I mean, that’s what this house is. I mean, and it’s got, you know, an, like a, an in law suite in the basement. we did a garden suite study. You can build a big garden suite in the backyard with income. This is a really good income property and or property for a 1st time buyer who maybe wants to, you know, rent a basement, have an in law suite. I mean, there’s all sorts of potential in this property.Jeffrey
And that’s interesting that you brought up the fact that there are, that’s, other dwellings that are possible on a property, right down the street from us, they’re putting up a laneway suite that’s got 2 suites in it. So, something on the order of increasing it from a single-family home with a garage to at least 4, maybe 5 units on the property.
And, you know, when it came to Committee of Adjustment, the messaging that people on the call were getting is that the city is very flexible, let’s say, in, adjustments and in terms of, alterations for any property, any proposal which increases density allows for multi, units on a formerly single family house.
So, they even allowed for a variance for overheight and for backyard setback. So I think the city is in the policy part for individual projects is allowing for that. But as, you know, as we’ve seen, that’s only a single project that’s increasing from one to maybe 5 the number of units, and that’s not really going to make a dent.Patrick Rocca
Yeah, we’re seeing that, there’s one actually on Eglinton and Leaside, the similar sort of thing, it was a bungalow and they tore it down and they built, I want to say, 4 or 6 plex, and they went for, variants to get a garden suitein there as well and I’m not sure if they’ve got that yet. Unfortunately, the developer, the builder did everything without permission.Jeffrey
That’s the same developer.Patrick Rocca
Oh, is it? Okay. Yes. I mean, apparently that’s the MO of this builder. you know, they do what they do and then they ask for forgiveness and in this case is that’s what happened. It, quite frankly, it’s a, it’s a bit of an eyesore, but I mean, yeah, you’re right. I mean, the city is, the city and the province is approving these things and that’s what’s happening, right?Jeffrey
Now, the other side of the fence is, again, looking at, you know, what can make resale housing more viable for 1st time buyers. And the amount is, you know, kind of still eye watering when, you know, somebody looks at what’s required or the average resale home in the GTA, not just in the midtown area, but in the GTA, the number’s been over a $1,000,000 for quite a few years. So, in that, are you seeing that some of your buyers are looking at more flexible options, you mentioned that some of them have a suite which can be rented, maybe there’s an accessory unit, which could be built later on. Or even, co-ownership where, you know, somebody might go in with some friends or, you know, family members to, you know, subdivide a property to be able to increase the affordability. Have you seen anything around that in the market?Patrick Rocca
Not much on the co-ownership, however, I have heard of it, through some of my peers and colleagues. but the definitely the potential to have income. the potential to have, you know, a 2nd suite. obviously, that those are all factors, I think, that, are very appealing to, specifically to 1st time buyers, that, the thing with a garden suite, is, as you know, they’re not cheap to build, right? So, I mean, if you’re, if you’re paying a, you know, $1,300,000 for a property and it’s got income, which is great in the basement, you know, you potentially rent it out if it’s legal. and if, but if you want to build that garden suite, it’s, it could be another half a million as you know, right?Patrick Rocca
So, you know, there’s, you know, there’s prefab ones that you can buy for 250 apparently, but, yeah, there’s people looking at those options for sure, and it’s definitely more appealing, especially, to a 1st time buyer.Jeffrey
Yeah, and of course, you know, for affordability, we’ve always talked about things that, you know, people can do to, I guess, maybe ease the pain a little bit, that we talked earlier about, not necessarily buying something, which is completely done.
And I know from discussions, I’d say literally 3 quarters of people that I’ve talked to have challenges, seeing potential, you know, even if it’s something like paint or bad lighting. And I think that the other side of that is that, you know, working with somebody who’s in the neighbourhood, who can advise you on these things, you know, be able to give you some perspective on what something could be with maybe a new code of paint or, you know, updated fixtures, as well as understanding the different projects coming up in the neighbourhood, for instance, in my neighbourhood, at the corner of Mount Pleasant and Davisville there’s an office building, which for years was rumoured to be underdeveloped, and last year, finally, we did get the development notice that there’s going to be a 12 story condo put on that spot.
Now they’re probably not going to start construction for about 3 years. However, if you’ve bought a house, which is adjacent to that property, you’re a new home buyer, wouldn’t you want to know that something eventually might block your view or there might be construction disruption? An agent from another part of the city might not know that.Patrick Rocca
Yeah. And I mean, I think, I know a building you’re talking about the northeast corner, if I’m not mistaken, but I mean, the bottom line is I mean, I think, as a buyer, and as an agent, you have to kind of assume,. Now, in this current market economy, that anything close to a busy street, Mount Pleasant or Bayview, as in one or 2 houses in or a Laird or a Brentcliff, or, it doesn’t matter what’s there now. What’s going to be there in the future is going to be totally different and you have to just assume that. and I think that goes without saying, so, I mean, yeah, I mean, I agree with you, and it, you know, experience and knowledge of the, of the marketplaces is very important.Jeffrey
I agree. And it’s sometimes a little bit, I don’t know, maybe disruptive for somebody looking for a home to have a different agent in every different area they’re looking in. but, you know, what are the advantages of that? For somebody is looking very focussed in, say, Leaside or Davisville to have an expert on that area.Patrick Rocca
Well, it’s very important. and again, it’s, I mean, if you don’t have to have I mean, like when I say, you know, obviously I specialize in Leaside or Davisville. I sell, obviously in other areas, but if you come to me and say, Patrick, I want you to help me in Etobicoke, or I want you to help me in Mississauga, or I want you to help me in, you know, Thornhill. I won’t do it, because I don’t know the area.
As a matter of fact, I just referred some people to a colleague of mine in Thornhill last week, who are looking at buying. I refer to my network of colleagues, you know, almost, you know, a couple of times a month, because I just don’t feel comfortable.
You will get agents who will go, you know, and go to Hamilton, for God’s sakes. I mean, who does that? I mean, I don’t know what’s going on in Hamilton, let alone, you know, the far western part of the, of the city. so I just, you know, I know Toronto. I know Leaside Davisville. You know, I know Midtown. you know, I know East York. I mean, so I know those areas, but once I get beyond my comfort zone. I’m not the greedy person. I’m more. It’s more important to me to make sure that my client is, treated properly and professionally and has works with someone who has a knowledge of the area.Jeffrey
Absolutely. And as we’ve discussed, you’ve been doing this for over 30 years and seen a lot of technology come in, a lot of changes in the marketplace, but, you know, that experience, it does count for something. It’s not just in the negotiation technique. It’s not just in, you know, finding deals. It’s really understanding the process and for a 1st time home buyer, I can speak as one. They were really challenging times. I did not know, what was going to happen, and I was really glad I had somebody knowledgeable to really guide me through the steps.Patrick Rocca
Yeah, absolutely on 100%.Jeffrey
Fantastic. So, Patrick, why don’t we leave it there? and if folks are trying to get a hold of you, What’s the best way for them to actually contact you?Patrick Rocca
The best way obviously is through my office here in on Vanderhoof. my direct line. if I’m not in, just leave me a voicemail. I call you right back, it’s 416-322-8000. obviously, my email is probably the best because my phone, as I’ve mentioned, is attached to my body. It’s mail@patrickrocca.comJeffrey
Oh, fantastic. Well, as always, Patrick, it’s an interesting year so far. We’re about a month in and we will definitely touch base a little later on and see what’s happened in the spring market.Patrick Rocca
Yeah, it’s gonna be. I think it’s going to be interesting as, you know, as you said, we’re a month in and the spring market is just starting up and, you know, I’m just starting to sign up listings and whatnot, so the, I guess the next step will be to see is, will they sell and when will they sell.Jeffrey
Yeah, absolutely. So, looking forward to our next chat.Patrick Rocca
Thank you very much, Jeffrey. have a great day. Stay warm.Jeffrey
Thanks, Patrick. Bye.
Jeffrey
I’m here again with Patrick Rocca who’s with Bosley real estate and Patrick- Why don’t you introduce yourself to our listeners?
Patrick Rocca
Hey good morning, Jeffrey Patrick Rocca, Bosley real estate. I’m here in the Midtown neighbourhood of Leaside & Davisville located on Vanderhoof Avenue and been working this area for over 30 years and interesting times in our market right now.
Jeffrey
Yeah, it certainly is interesting times and just before the call we are chatting about a vacation properties & cottages and I was thinking back to just about five years ago little over people were struggling to stay in the city and really wanted to get out of the city and bought a lot of properties outside the city and really drove the prices up. And then as these things usually happen the people wanted to get back to city & the prices dropped somewhat. Now I know this isn’t your area of expertise, but have you seen any trends in that vacation properties cottage properties market?
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, yes we have them. We have an office in Niagara on the Lake; we have an office in Thornbury so we’ve seen this sort of market shift as I guess I would say from Covid days to today I mean obviously prices much like everywhere in the area in Ontario and Canada for that matter went crazy during Covid. But the conversely, the housing cottage market in those neighbourhoods have taken a hit in the past year so people who bought the peak or probably I would say easily off 20%. If you paid two 2 million for a property, you’re lucky to probably get 17 for now but if you’re again if it’s like anything I mean if you’re if you if you bought it and you wanna enjoy it and you’re there long-term I think I think you’re you’re fine. So but yeah, the cottage market the whole market in the 905 is his has taken a hit because people are coming back in and I mean they’re trying to get people to come back to work and there’s not as much remote working so yeah interesting market they are definitely longer. I mean the last time I talk to someone in our Niagara-on-the-Lake location, and they got 12 months of inventory.
Jeffrey
Wow
Patrick Rocca
Oh yeah it that might be off by a month or two, but I don’t think it’s off that much but yeah
Jeffrey
Wow
Patrick Rocca
Things have changed in that market but it’s interesting as like a Toronto market things have changed
Jeffrey
Yeah, exactly and you know I think over the past five years we’ve seen pretty rapid shifts I think for my research were getting back to a little bit more of the buyers market a little more supply coming on the market. Are you seeing the same sort of trend specially within the single-family detached market.
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, a lot more supply – definitely a buyers market and we start to see that shift this year properties that have been I mean people that are still thinking 2022-2023. They’re stuck in a reality chamber that’s not good – prices have come off. We’re seeing instances I mean it’s happened to me this past month. I mean I’ve had a great October. October is probably my best month of the year. Lots of several listings, lots of activity Offers sales but interesting enough. I had a couple properties both with multiple offers both sold under asking.
Jeffrey
Even with multiple sets, incredible
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, yeah and then but then again, I’ve also had properties of multiple that are sold over and we’re still seeing some stuff with multiples that selling over so it’s not this isn’t the end of this is a fabulous opportunity to buy and there’s there’s good. There’s good opportunity out there if here if you’re looking in them in the market.
Jeffrey
Right and the challenge is always to break that affordability barrier especially for first time homebuyers and are you seeing any movement in that area sort of in the you know 1.5 to 2 kind of first time homebuyers? I know it seems a little bit strange for listeners to hear that first time homebuyers are in the one and a half million dollar market, but such as the reality of Midtown Toronto
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, I mean right now and I’m not sure the last time we talked earlier in the spring, but I mean the first time buyers or the people that are moving up from condos and what not, anything under 2 1/2 million if it’s priced right shows well will sell now. Are you getting multiples not all the time are you selling? Yes, so there is movement in that market for sure I mean that’s that that’s where the healthy market is at least in Midtown Davisville. Side I mean, you know I just don’t want listings over three 3 1/2 million because they’re not selling unless they’re the special property that the good stuff right now the bungalows the semi’s are very popular right now That stuff is moving
Jeffrey
And I know over the past couple years as we’ve talked we’ve talked about properties that maybe need a little bit of work and I know you know in in a pre-Covid times there were still a few of those that come up on the market you know maybe that was a bit of speculation a bit of pressure from builders looking to you know flip a property, but are you still seeing that there are properties that you know if somebody is handy, they can do some work on it and improve the property?
Patrick Rocca
Yes, yes or no I mean you might be able to answer that question more so, but I mean I’m not sure what you’re seeing on your end but we’re seeing in the sales side that speculators and builders aren’t really around or prevalent. Now they’re not buying as much because of the economy, right I mean we’ve got some very challenging times right now. And properties that are, I mean, I had just one in south Leaside that sold and you know it needed at work and you know everybody you know was saying I won’t need too much work while I mean that’s why it was listed for 1.3. I mean if you want something that’s done you went around the corner for 1.65 so I mean if you’re realistic and your buyer you can get in the market if you’re handy if you get in if you have the ability to hire someone like yourself or a contractor you know to do some work and get it and get a good property but we’re still seeing a lot of the buyers that want turn-key and it said sometimes when you’re looking at budget restraints, it’s not realistic if you want turn-key at 1.3 – it ain’t happening But definitely that the builders the speculators I mean, I had a bungalow. I mean, I have another bungalow right now. It’s not the perfect location. It’s a great home. Great lot great street But builders you know if it’s if it’s if it’s good and it’s well priced you may get some movement, but there’s a lot of nervousness in the speculator market and if you got money, I mean the people that are that are doing well now the people that have money I mean, like we sold the condo to a group of investors that people are just banking on property because they know that things are low now and I’ll go in the bank. They’ll sit on it, and you know it’ll be in five years I mean, it’ll be to be making money, right
Jeffrey
That’s really interesting and that correlates with something that I read recently is that you know 10 investors will get a pool money together and buy several condos or you know several properties that sort of thing and you’re right that you know they do have the ability to sit on things longer and you know if you’re renting it then they have the ability to withstand a couple of months of you know maybe that property is empty one out of 10 or one out of you know five properties because they have you know a diverse pool of investors. Have you seen that come in to replace the kind of individual investor in the condo market?
Patrick Rocca
Just recently, I sold one in Davisville where it was a pool of investors -mortgage people. We’re not seeing the foreign buyer entry because we have that foreign buyer tax and I mean that’s one of the problems with condo market right now I mean the condo market is a disaster again. Take it with a grain of salt when I say it’s a “disaster.” I mean, new construction, the pre-con there’s so many micro condos there’s just no investors buying them and a lot of the investors you know before we put the foreign buyers ban on foreign buyers and they need to they need to repeal that tax if they want to I mean, we don’t have a we got a lot of housing. We got a lot of empty condos in the city and I’m not talking in Midtown. I’m talking like downtown like.
Jeffrey
Right
Patrick Rocca
We have a housing crisis within an affordability crisis I mean and no until you know they will. They figure that out you know if it’s a problem I mean there was 155 condos sold in September in Toronto in the GTA.
Jeffrey
Wow
Patrick Rocca
Hundreds I wanna say maybe thousands are sitting empty because you’re not selling so it’s kind of a catch 22 when we got people living on the street so we’ve got people can’t afford. So there’s I don’t know if the government is doing their thing in terms of trying to make things right but it’s not it’s not a good situation, but that being said the good condos and like I said, and I said this all the good condos in the good areas in good buildings the two bedrooms the one+ ones the good size ones they’re still selling for what they were a couple years ago but they’re still selling but if you got a micro condo that’s 450 ft.² You know it it’s a problem
Jeffrey
And I read recently that many banks are not even willing to approve mortgages for units under 400 ft.² especially in this market
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, I read something about that too yeah, for sure and I mean in there, they are cracking down a bit more now and financing and the banks are getting a bit tougher when it comes to that type of stuff
Jeffrey
And I think that you know that’s a good thing on the financing side, but you know as a you know someone in the industry, someone in their development / construction industry you can see that for probably past 2-3 years developers haven’t really been planning new units. What you see now, the cranes and you know that digging holes in the ground those projects were on paper 3-4 years ago and so you’re gonna see it like a dry up in terms of new supply over the next year two years maybe within under 10,000 units by 2028, which is a far cry from the 30,000 units which are going to complete this year and so yes, you’re right. We do have an affordability issue. We have a housing crisis and yet the developers aren’t able to actually make a profit where rents are now or for those units and also what the cost are to put those in the ground. I think last I read about a third of the cost of putting a new unit on the market is development fees and taxes. And so, you know, without you know, government is willing to budge on that it’s hard to make a case for building new supply
Patrick Rocca
100% you just nailed it on the head. I mean it’s a government issue. I mean there’s so much red tape the fees you know the permit process planning process and the government’s gotta do more to expedite it and in typical government fashion, they do nothing they talk and they do nothing. But if you want to fix this, you’ve got the government has to make moves in and drop the fees and or lower the fees and you know that this is part of the problem right. I mean when you talk about condos and no new condos being developed I mean, I read something last week 18 to 20 development projects have already been cancelled this year. I mean if you look at Bayview and Eglinton, which is a gong show, I mean you’ve got what 5-6 projects at 30+ stories. Scheduled, but I don’t know if any we’re gonna actually be built in the next 3 to 5 years. You look at Sunnybrook Plaza that thing’s gonna sit empty. I mean they just gone back to the drawing board they had they were approved for 22 buildings; two towers 17 and 14 stories. I think and now they’ve gone back to the drawing board, and they want 35+ stories. There are now three buildings so it’s I mean that again to see approved so that’s not happening for 3 to 5 years, you know you get the car wash, you got the Esso station, the townhome site – all these development projects. I just don’t see them happening because there’s no demand for it
Jeffrey
Yeah, it’s really a strange situation where you know again we say there’s people who want housing but there’s no demand for housing at that price right what was gonna be in the end.
Patrick Rocca
Correct that’s what I said it’s an affordability thing right. I mean these builders they’re building and they’re still getting hoping to get their thousand plus / square foot and the average person can’t afford that. The people that really need housing can’t afford that.
Jeffrey
Yes
Patrick Rocca
It’s an odd situation. I’ll tell you that right now.
Jeffrey
It sure is and even in the detached housing, you know that sort of thing at least now if you’re in that market, there is a little bit more. I don’t wanna say return to normalcy because you know what is normal around here, but at least you know for the last couple of months has been a buyers market like you said there’s there is value out there in the market if you’re willing to look and you really are willing to understand the local market and the neighbourhood that you wanna move into.
Patrick Rocca
Oh yeah, there’s definitely great value and don’t get me wrong. I mean at the market I started to see turn in September, October and I mean there’s been some there’s been some activity which is good. Like I said, my October’s been a very, very productive month. I’m starting to see that across the board. I mean, you know we have our weekly office meeting here at Bosley and our sales report. Every Monday has been like Big. So there’s deals happening and I feel that just my personal opinion that and I said this before I think that people have come to that this is the new norm like we were. I mean this is an interest rate people keep saying to me. I had a client say to me a couple weeks ago let’s wait till the rate drops one more time and I might even that rates or not. The rates aren’t really driving this market.
Jeffrey
Correct
Patrick Rocca
Or hindering this market- what’s hindering this market is our economy you know the uncertainty, job loss, the unemployment, the inflation we know the infamous trade deal that we were promised that we were gonna get in July. Here we are November nothing. I mean it’s there’s just so much uncertainty that it’s trickle down to you know the buyers and in the real estate market that that’s important if there’s if there’s uncertainty it’s not a good thing. I think we’re gonna see an interest rate cut this week. We’re gonna see at least one more before the end of the year. So, I mean again, I don’t really know how much that has to tie into the market. I think it’s more related to you just economy in general.
Jeffrey
Yeah, and you know when you talk about often, you do talk about uncertainty the ability to be able to move or at least make a decision when others are not and in 3-5 years, if you look back and say well, things didn’t look amazing, but you know we needed a place to live and we kind of bit the bullet we bought a house. And you know there’s no guarantees, of course, but I think that like periods in the past when you look back, you’ll say you know there weren’t a lot of people that were willing to go in at that time, and say “I’m glad that we bucked the trend and looked at fundamentals looked at the market over by 10 15 years and said yeah it was actually based on the fundamentals. It was a good time to buy.”
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, I mean you know I said just 1 million times I think I’ve even said it on your podcast a few times I mean there’s two things in real estate. You can’t predict and that’s a top & the bottom.
Jeffrey
Right
Patrick Rocca
I don’t care what people say. I think we’re close to the bottom at least in the freehold residential section of the market. I mean the condo market still give me some time to fall if you’re looking at downtown and Pre-con, but I mean if you’re in a long-term and you’re already you know. Saving 30-40 cents on the dollar you know what’s another five cents. I mean you know you’re gonna gamble for that and I mean better to buy now and if you’re holding a 5+ years, you’re in great shape now on the other on the other hand if you’re thinking of selling, I mean, I don’t I don’t think I mean if you’re thinking of something you have to sell be very realistic understand listen to your realtor be guided properly. And understand that it’s not 2022 or 2023 and you know I think the spring is gonna be a little better I mean are we gonna see double digit games next year absolutely not. We’re back to sort of kind of a normal market we still have uncertainty by the looks of it now we might not even have a trade deal if any till 2026. You know what I mean and I think I said this all wrong. I think that it’s gonna come down to CUSMA and they’re gonna try and renegotiate this all at one time and you don’t think again there’s uncertainty there but selling the spring I’m talking to a lot of people right now we’re going to sell the spring because our fall market fizzling out right now. But you know I think I think it’s going to be a decent spring. I just don’t know if you’re looking for 5-10% gain, that ain’t happening.
Jeffrey
Yeah, I think that’s very wise advice and you know again putting everything together we don’t know what’s going to happen in early 2026. There’s a whole bunch of other factors that that we just don’t talk about that that could make the market more in certain to make you know affordability go up or down but one thing that we haven’t talked about in a while is the practice of real estate you’ve been in this business for over 30 years. If there were somebody is listening now it says you know maybe it’s a good time to get into being a real estate agent you know what would you advise them?
Patrick Rocca
Oh yeah, I get asked this quite frequently. It’s probably not the answer to most people want to hear but you know it’s a tough business. It’s a very tough business and I would say that if you’re going to, I said this agents for years before Covid and I get a lot of people come to me you know, like my kids friends are younger than you know they think it’s a get rich quick scheme. You know people that have been in the business for the last 3-4-5 years since Covid are now seeing that this is not an easy business and unless you’re doing it full-time and unless you’re prepared to sacrifice. And do what you need to do. It’s not the business for you. This isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It’s you know establishing routines and boundaries and commitments and it’s a tough business and you know I’ve been doing a 30 odd years and I’m seeing in the last couple years. Stuff that just I shake my head out every day and if you talk to any seasoned agent and I talk to many on a weekly basis, we also say the same thing like you know where these people get their license you know they can’t negotiate them their self out of a wet paper bag – they don’t know what they’re doing. It’s bizarre. So I mean it’s a tough business and you need to work with a brokerage. This reason I’ve been a Bosley for 30 years. I mean that you know we train we got a great management team and great resource resources, in-house legal. We’re not just one of these places where they give you a desk and say you go You get good guidance here so you gotta pick a good brokerage company has been around. We’ve been around almost 100 years. And you want that support is a big thing if you’re getting into this business now
Jeffrey
Yeah, I would agree and you know we have so much information at our fingertips right now, but information only takes you so far because in the end it decide what the market is it’s a people game right you have to build those relationships not only with potential buyers and sellers, but also other agents right there’s a level of trust which you really need to establish and that doesn’t come instantly no matter how many Instagram posts you put out so I agree with you hundred percent. If you’re looking for a home or trying to sell, you know please find yourself a reputable established agent not just somebody who you know looks good on your screen, but who knows the market who knows the ins and outs of this process and who has a good relationship and reputation
Patrick Rocca
You know it’s funny you mention that because in the last two weeks I’ve done I’ve done several deals but two in particular I did with very reputable very seasoned agents and in both times in one time written on my LinkedIn, the agent when we announced the sale of the agent came on- “It is so nice to go to work with you because it’s refreshing to work with agents who know what they’re doing.” And people that are straight up, so I mean very, very important when you’re when you’re working with an agent, whether it’s the buyer on the cell that you work with someone who’s been who knows what they’re doing. It’s been in the business and has a reputation.
Jeffrey
Exactly and you know if I have one last thing to say if this is your biggest investment you know, don’t try to save a few pennies because in the end you want this transaction go smoothly you don’t want any hidden gotchas coming up you know when you close, you really want this to be a smooth process it can be enjoyable. I know there’s a lot of emotion involved, but it can be enjoyable if you’re working with the right people.
Patrick Rocca
I hundred percent and I said this many times you know your biggest investment unless you got unlimited wealth, but I mean you know I often come across people that say oh well I need a list of my nephew or I’m gonna listen to my sister-in-law and I’m like that’s great and it’s very nice of you but you’re giving $2 million to someone who sells two homes a year
Jeffrey
Yes
Patrick Rocca
You know it’s risky I mean, you know there’s a reason why you work with top people you know when you work with your finance people your investment people I mean, you don’t want the guy who is brand new on the business writers. You know it’s good I mean, I remember when I was, but I learned the hard I work with people experience and I gained experience but yeah, you just don’t wanna be working with the cousin.
Jeffrey
So let’s just leave it at that and you know as well. Just been a pleasure and if people wanna get a hold of you what’s the best way that they can reach you?
Patrick Rocca
Yeah, they can always reach me through my office here at Bosley at 103 Vanderbilt Ave. my phone number is 416-322-8000. If I’m not in just leave me a voicemail I call you right back or you can email me my phone is attached to my hip- mail@patrickrocca.com and I’ll get back to you immediately.
Jeffrey
Yeah, I can attest that Patrick gets back to people usually within a few hours so yeah that’s definitely the best way to get a hold of him
Patrick Rocca
If it’s a few hours, I’m usually out for a run. It’s usually quicker.
Jeffrey
Yeah, exactly so I thanks again Patrick it’s been a pleasure, and I know that people will definitely benefit from what you shared today. Thanks again for the call thank you
Patrick Rocca
Likewise, have a great day. Thanks for the chat.
Jeffrey I’m here again with Patrick Rocca of Bosley Real Estate, and we are in the early part of June 2025. Patrick, why don’t you introduce yourself and let us know what you do in the Davisville and Leaside area?
Patrick Rocca Good morning, Jeffrey. Thank you for having me. Yes, I’m Patrick Rocca with Bosley Real Estate, and my area of expertise is the Midtown area, Leaside, and Davisville. I’m a resident in the area and have been in the area for over 30 years.
Jeffrey And that’s quite something, being in this market for 30 years as a real estate agent. I was alluding to this earlier. Something I just noticed in the past four or five days is that I’ve noticed about half a dozen more listings in my little areas as I’ve been driving around. Most of them were actually Bosley Real Estate listings. But have you noticed a change in the market between, say, a week or two weeks ago and what we’re seeing now?
Patrick Rocca I think we’re into the final days and throes of the spring market, for what there was of the spring market, because it was all over the map. May was a very good month for me personally. I know if you look at the Toronto real estate statistics, there are more homes listed now in the GTA than in years. There are way more listings in our area. The interesting point is the statistics talk about how we’re down, price-wise, and how there’s more inventory and sales are down, but that’s GTA-specific. If you go neighbourhood-specific and you look at, let’s just say, Leaside/Davisville or some of the core areas, prime product is still moving there in specific price points. For example, I’m listing two this week in Davisville, one on Soudan and one on Balliol, and I suspect that they will sell quite quickly. And again, it all goes to the price point. Right now, most of the sales are in that under-2.5-million range, which has been pretty consistent for the last year or so. But you know, if you look at entry-level into our neighbourhood—the semis, the smaller detached—those things are still moving at the right price, right?
Jeffrey Yeah, and have you noticed that as a whole the market, in terms of movement for buyers, seems to have picked up a bit? You’re looking at more inventory, but in desirable areas that are, you know, “priced for new buyers,” there’s a lot of activity. Can you kind of break that down for us? Because what we are seeing now, based on the last time we talked, was a whole bunch of new conditions, the introduction of stress, and an uncertain environment. The Bank of Canada has, for the past two interest rate meetings, held the line on interest rate drops. So are you seeing people finally coming to grips with the uncertainty, the real estate market, and saying, “I’ve got to actually go buy something now, and now is as good a time as any”?
Patrick Rocca In certain cases, yes, but we’re still seeing a confidence gap. There’s no doubt about it. We’re seeing there’s good opportunity for buyers right now, but a lot of buyers—and I started noticing this more this year, late spring—a lot of buyers are still kind of waiting. And a lot of buyers who are in the market are still thinking that they can lowball stuff, which it’s really not. I mean, you know, there’s stuff that’s selling right now that are good opportunities that would’ve been selling for a couple hundred thousand dollars more two or three years ago, so there’s good opportunity. But I’m telling you, there is a real issue with confidence right now and uncertainty. Even though, you know, interest rates have held, I was reading or listening to something yesterday that they’re talking about maybe we won’t see an interest rate decrease until the later part of the year. I think we need to hopefully get a rate decrease sooner than later, and I do believe it will happen. I think it has to happen. And like I said, it’s confidence right now. It’s really, really a confidence thing with buyers. And it also goes back to sellers who are not being guided properly. They still have unrealistic expectations. So, you’ve got agents that aren’t advising their clients properly, and you’ve got sellers that are thinking 2022 and buyers that are thinking, you know, 2015.
Jeffrey Yeah.
Patrick Rocca It is a weird market. And it’s every deal. I mean, I had an interview with The Globe and Mail last week, and I said it: every deal is a challenge, whether it’s the seller, the buyer, or the agent that you’re dealing with. They’re just tougher to put together.
Jeffrey Interesting. So, you’re saying that we’re still seeing a little bit of unrealistic expectations on the seller’s side, perhaps a little bit of a wait-and-see attitude on the buyer’s side, and so it’s been harder to reconcile those two. Is there really a gap between what, for instance, a buyer would expect to get for the average price in the area—one, one-and-a-half million—and what’s actually available in inventory?
Patrick Rocca Yes. It depends. I had a property that I sold on Davisville a couple of weeks ago, and the buyer had a budget. They started looking at other areas, but they really wanted to be in Davisville Village, and they had to sacrifice on size and a little bit on location, but they got in. But a lot of buyers are still, you know, they still have that champagne taste, beer budget out there. And like I said, there are buyers… I had three offers on one of my listings a couple of weeks ago. One of the offers came in $300,000 under asking with conditions, and I’m like, “Who does that in multiple offers?” It was just bizarre, but that’s a case of a buyer with unrealistic expectations and also an agent who’s not guiding their client properly.
Jeffrey Wow. And you noticed that there were some multiples. Are we seeing a return to many deals having multiples, as we saw maybe five years ago where you had to come in strong, there were multiple offers, and you had to have no conditions with the hope of getting the sale? Are we starting to see that, or because there’s more inventory, are buyers being more cautious when they’re going in and submitting their offers?
Patrick Rocca No, we’re starting to see… well, we’ve been seeing it a lot this spring, but recently, in the last 30 to 45 days, we’re seeing a lot of multiples and we’re seeing over-asking. And you know, most of the offers are clean, and I think buyers have to know that they have to be clean. I had a property I listed in Davisville two weeks ago, and I sold it with a bully offer, you know, three days on the market. And that weekend alone, there were four or five houses in the area, including in Leaside, that all had bully offers and sold before the offer date. So that’s a good sign, but again, it’s all price dependent. It’s up to that 2.5-million-dollar range, right?
Jeffrey Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I know historically, houses at three, three-and-a-half million tend to be more niche, more specific. Although, we have seen, I would say, in this neighbourhood, prices creeping up into that range for new builds. And I think, again, the challenge is what we’ve been hearing on the news: how are buyers going to be financing these types of prices where, for a first-time homebuyer or even a move-up homebuyer, these are significant prices to contend with? On the other side, you’ve got the insecurity in terms of geopolitical events. So really, how do buyers start thinking about this if they are really starting to get serious about potentially buying their first home in the neighbourhood that they really want to live in?
Patrick Rocca I think, obviously, the first thing is getting pre-approved and understanding what their budget actually is. We’re not seeing it very often where houses are selling for some crazy number where you scratch your head and go, “How the heck is that going to appraise?” We don’t see that very often. So, I think buyers are safe that way. As long as they’re educated, getting good advice from their agent, getting, like I said, pre-approval, and working with a good mortgage broker. As long as they keep within their means, I think they’re going to be in good shape.
Jeffrey And another thing that we’ve been hearing about over the past couple of years is the wave of refinancing that’s happening for existing mortgage holders. And I know you’re not a specialist in this area, but we were hearing doom and gloom for the past two years about this cliff of refinancing that had to take place in 2025. I had to refinance as well, and there was doom and gloom that there was going to be a potential wave of defaults and it would lead to a lot of uncertainty in the market. Have you heard or seen anything anecdotally about that?
Patrick Rocca Yes, I have. As a matter of fact, I sold one under power of sale two weeks ago in Davisville, a condominium. I’ve also heard of other situations where people, you know, refinanced for various reasons in the past couple of years, whether it was a failed business or unemployment, or people had to sell. But we are hearing about power of sales a bit more, and we’re starting to see that there are people that, you know, are leveraged.
Jeffrey Yeah, yeah, most definitely. And I know even up to a couple of years ago, between the condos and sort of entry-level houses, people were always confident that the value of their property would be going up. So even if they had to really, really stretch for a couple of years and they did need to sell, they would have equity and be able to not be underwater. Now, potentially, given the market hasn’t appreciated the same amount, there could be situations where somebody’s underwater even if they have to sell. Do you think that type of realization is starting to come into, at least, the first-time homebuyer market?
Patrick Rocca Yes, yeah, I would say that for sure. That realization is there for sure. I think that again, the buyers have to understand right now they have leverage. Not all of them are using it, though. That’s the problem because they still think that the market is falling. And yeah, it’s going to go down a bit, but I mean, as I’ve said many times before, in real estate, the two things you can’t predict are the top and the bottom. But I mean, we’re off the bottom, and there are some good opportunities. But on the other hand, there are sellers that are still in denial, right? You know, who paid big bucks during… specifically, you talked about infill. I mean, they paid big bucks for lots during COVID, built the property, and now they’re trying to sell them. Well, they paid 2 million for the lot in COVID, and now that lot is probably worth 1.5 million, maybe. And it cost more to build during the past couple of years, and now they’re trying to sell for four, and the house is worth three. There are all sorts of those issues out there too. That’s why you’re seeing those infill projects sit.
Jeffrey Yeah, and you talked about opportunities. As a smart buyer, what do you have to be aware of when you’re looking at buying opportunities, especially in that Davisville-Leaside area?
Patrick Rocca I mean, Leaside is a pretty safe area to buy in, so I just think it’s always location, location, location. Be careful and do your research. Make sure you’re working with someone local that knows where the condo developments are going to be. I mean, you don’t want to be buying a house on a street where a couple of neighbours have been bought up by a developer, right? And there are some situations like that where I’ve had instances where I told buyers, “There’s a developer buying up houses on this street, stay away from it.” So as a first-time buyer, you want to be careful of that.
Jeffrey Definitely. So, like you said, being plugged into the development process. And I know that areas are being re-zoned, and we do obviously need more housing, and condos seem to be the quickest way to build mass amounts of housing. But like you said, there are areas where if you’re going to be dealing with construction over the next two to five years, that can significantly impact the potential for you to be able to show your property to its best advantage, right? You know, buyers don’t want to be tripping over construction debris as they’re going into an open house.
Patrick Rocca Well, this is true. And on the other hand, buyers also don’t want to be living through four or five years of condo construction, right?
Jeffrey 100% agree. Now, we’ve talked in the past about, in this area specifically, because there are older homes, there are opportunities to work with somebody, especially a real estate agent, who can see potential and be able to see beyond potentially outdated light fixtures and old windows. Are you still seeing those opportunities in the housing stock, or are most of those now being turned over and modernized?
Patrick Rocca Sorry, I’m not quite sure I understand the question. So you’re asking me if we’re seeing houses that are dated that are coming to market? Yes, oh yeah. As a matter of fact, of the two listings I’m bringing out this week, one is an estate sale, and it’s pretty much lot value. The other one is a lovely home, a fabulous garden, and parking, but it could probably use an update in the kitchen, and you could do some work in the basement. So you’re seeing that. That’s a good opportunity for buyers to get into the market and add their own touches.
Jeffrey And you touched on a really interesting point, which is that there are probably still properties out there that have been well-maintained. And if you are realistic as a buyer, you don’t have to dig out the basement and top up the roof right away. You could probably stage some of that work so that you’re ready to do it as you kind of grow with the house. I think a lot of buyers think if they’re looking at a property that is dated, that it needs to be a total gut job just to be able to move in, with one year of construction and a huge budget.
Patrick Rocca Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, it’s hard to find the perfect house, and a lot of buyers, when they move in, they want to add their personal touches right away. But if you find something that’s decent and livable, like you said, you can do things over time, right?
Jeffrey Yeah, yeah. I think if you’re looking at a purchase price of, you know, seven figures—one-and-a-half to two million seems to be around what we’re getting for a house in the area—and then you’re thinking, “I’ve got to spend another half a million dollars to bring it up to my standards,” that’s an extremely big pill to swallow. So, if you could, you know, paint, change the fixtures, work with a designer to give it that more modern feel, and then save the big work for later on, I think that helps people mitigate a bit of the uncertainty of, “Well, we put so much into this house. We need the rest of the neighbourhood to come up to value so that we don’t get squeezed as the most expensive house on the market.”
Patrick Rocca No, you’re 100% correct.
Jeffrey Yeah, so I think, in terms of our original conversation, you’re absolutely right. The Greater Toronto Area as a whole is a bit different from specific markets, and I think you need to look beyond the numbers, especially with your agent, to really understand what’s happening in the neighbourhood. We’ve talked about this before in terms of things like dealing with multiple offers and being able to see potential in properties, but you brought up a fantastic point about understanding the neighbourhood dynamics and potential developments which are going to affect the value of your home in the future.
Patrick Rocca Absolutely. And as you know, there’s a lot of development happening in our community. So, if you’re a buyer walking in blindly and you’re not in tune with what’s going on, you could find yourself in the middle of a potential construction site.
Jeffrey Oh yeah, yeah. And not just one within your own four walls, but one that is looking to take over the entire street.
Patrick Rocca Absolutely, yeah, exactly.
Jeffrey Fantastic. So we’ve covered a lot of ground here, and again, I thank you for your time, Patrick. If folks want to reach out to you, what’s the best way for them to get a hold of you?
Patrick Rocca The best way for them to get a hold of me is through my office at Bosley at 416-322-8000, or you can email me. Email’s always good; I have my phone with me at all times. And that’s mail@patrickrocca.com. If anybody wants to talk about the upcoming summer market or fall market and my thoughts on that, I’d be happy to talk with them.
Jeffrey Fantastic. Yeah, and you know, we’ve been doing this for quite a while. As you mentioned, 30 years in the market, and definitely, I think if folks really want to know what’s happening in the Davisville-Leaside market, you’re one of the first stops people should make.
Patrick Rocca Thank you very much, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey All right, thanks, Patrick. As always, it’s been a pleasure, and I know we’ll talk soon.
Patrick Rocca Absolutely. Have a great day. Thank you. Bye-bye.