Yet another 2024 housing outlook for Ontario and Canada at large has been released, with more experts predicting that the nation's stubborn real estate prices will finally fall, especially for some markets.

Real estate brokerage Zoocasa notes in a new report that even if interest rates lower as expected in the New Year, the full impact of 2023's sky-high rates and overall inflation "has yet to be felt," and we've yet to hit the bottom of price reductions.

Buyers frustrated that home prices in areas like Toronto have only been marginally swayed by an ongoing downward spiral in sales numbers will be happy to know that this could soon change, especially for some housing types and in some areas, according to the firm's experts.

Housing in Toronto is set to get more affordable in the coming months🙌 https://t.co/mAkcQKEt9Z #Toronto #TorontoRealEstate #TorontoHousing

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 5, 2023

One of the regions expected to get cheaper in Ontario is cottage country, where Zoocasa says buyers "won't be enticed to re-enter the market for non-essential purchases unless prices come down."

"We've already seen many would-be buyers return to the sidelines this fall, with month-over-month sales plunging nationally... there's a current chasm between the bid/ask for many property types," they add, noting that sellers needing to offload properties as mortgage renewal approaches will need to cut prices substantially to do so.

This applies to all situations where buyers can be considered "non-urgent," including people who are downsizing or looking for a larger space.

"These buyers are going to delay their purchases, preferring to hold onto their current homes rather than risk higher payments. Lower sales will help bring prices down in most segments," Zoocasa says.

But, this won't apply across the board, as prices are slated to stay high in the most notoriously desirable and competitive areas, including for properties in the downtown cores of big cities and detached family homes in good school districts.

"The property types that will benefit the most from price drops will be entry and mid-level cottages and recreational properties, especially those that were over-sold and speculated upon during the pandemic," the report reads.

Toronto home prices expected to decline even further in 2024👀 https://t.co/HCL6xmiXmJ #Toronto #TorontoRealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 28, 2023

For those of us who will likely never be in the market for a vacation home, another segment set to plummet in price is pre-sale condo developments, a handful of which have had to be put on pause across the GTA due to a steep decline in sales and market uncertainty.

Because of this, Zoocasa anticipates a continued slowdown of new developments — abundant in dense urban areas — and an uptick in "pre-construction firesales" in 2024.

"Many of the pre-con investors who closed and financed at the 2018-2021 rates will not qualify to close these properties at today's rates," the report says.

"Prospective landlords will have to put more equity down, and there's the possibility of investors selling as an assignment and never having to close, which will create a firesale market in many buildings. "

Plummeting sales and market uncertainty has put dozens of new Toronto condos on pause https://t.co/qy5SZL5jc2 #Toronto #TorontoCondos #TorontoRealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 2, 2023

Though average prices in many markets nationwide may indeed continue to sink as we enter January, the firm notes that this won't be long-lasting and will be followed by "a rapid ascent to the top as the latent demand for housing in urban cores race to get back in before prices peak again."