07:26 AM EDT, 08/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Toronto home sales were up 10.9% year over year, which points to a fourth straight month of solid month-over-month gains on a seasonally adjusted basis, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

The starting point here was extremely low for Toronto, and sales remain well below the past-decade average.

A wide bid-ask spread, so to speak, has kept the market from

clearing and has left listings to go stale, noted the bank.

According to BMO, three things could close that gap:

-- Forced selling: A serious recession, job loss and delinquency would force ask prices down. The bank isn't seeing that and it doesn't want to.

-- Lower mortgage rates: BMO's arithmetic suggests that rates down in the low-3% range would get things moving again, but it will be hard pressed to get there even with another 50 bps of Bank of Canada easing. It would take more.

-- Price cuts: Ultimately, this is the channel that is going to clear the market, but the process has been slow. Prices are down 5% year over year for single-detached and more than 8% year over year for condos, and some further reductions would likely help get deals done.