Given the jarring sluggishness of Toronto's real estate market in recent months, residents and realtors alike are wondering what next year will hold for the city's housing landscape.

Housing forecasts for the region have been a little all over the place and, of course, hinge on whether mortgage lending rates will fall.

But, new predictions from RE/MAX contradict others from competitors, promising lower prices for the region in the New Year, rather than the stubbornly high figures we've seen persist despite the market downturn.

We'll see about that.

— POD Creator (@plaidviolence) September 6, 2023

In a very mixed bag of projections, the real estate company is anticipating that the cost of the typical home in the GTA will fall by about three per cent in 2024. The same can also be said of Peterborough, while property in Durham Region and Grand Bend will see even more substantial price dips of about five per cent.

For notoriously red-hot Toronto, this, along with other factors — like increasing numbers of terminated listings, incidents of power of sale and days on market — will mean more of a buyer's market at times in the coming year, which is a rarity for the region.

RE/MAX predicts lower real estate prices but more sales in the GTA next year in its latest market outlook.

"Despite various markets in Ontario favouring sellers or experiencing balanced conditions in 2023, the majority of regions are currently buyers’ markets including Niagara, Mississauga, Durham Region, Brampton, Grand Bend, North Bay, Muskoka, Haliburton and Kingston," the outlook, released Tuesday, reads.

"Looking ahead to next year, Mississauga, Brampton, Simcoe County, Muskoka and Haliburton are likely to balance out. The GTA market is also anticipated to gain balance in 2024, but is also expected to favour buyers at certain points of the year."

Particularly interesting is the fact that the Toronto area, almost always among the top two priciest places for real estate in the country, is slated to see price declines while the opposite can be said for Canada at large, with prices rising about 0.5 per cent nationally next year alongside a spike in market activity.

"Looking ahead, RE/MAX brokers and agents expects the market to be slightly more active in 2024, with national average residential sale prices likely to increase by 0.5 per cent and 61 per cent of regions surveying anticipating unit sales to increase in 2024, RE/MAX notes.

"The slower market we’ve been experiencing across the country this fall could be an early indicator of an active 2024, as reflected in the modest price increase and sales outlook for next year, and the balancing of conditions in several regions across the country."

Experts revise Toronto housing forecast due to tanking market but say prices are still going up 😳https://t.co/SCjMK3oLqX #Toronto #TorontoHousingMarket

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 12, 2023

This is thanks to the fact that nearly three-quarters of Canadians still somehow perceive home ownership to be "the best investment" of any despite our lasting housing shortage and what the firm terms "a tricky interest rate environment" that will, along with a high cost of living, continue to impact the housing market.