Fixed mortgages rates rise, Toronto returns to office and the Home of the Week: Canadian real estate news for the week of Sept. 4

This week: What a steady interest rate and the trade war mean for your mortgage, and Toronto returns to the office. Plus, a city gets creative with multiplexes, and one property worth a look.

Bank of Canada

Interest rate holds, but trade war drives up fixed-rate mortgages

Despite nearly a year of steady key rates in Canada, uncertainty is the only thing potential buyers and mortgage shoppers can count on right now. The Bank of Canada this week held the benchmark at 2.25 per cent yet again, because, as Erica Alini reports, the latest exchange of tariffs with the U.S. has only heightened the two risks it’s balancing: inflation and a potential major economic slowdown.

“So far, that has meant stability for variable mortgage rates, which tends to move in tandem with the Bank of Canada’s policy rate,” Erica writes, but it’s not good news for every rate. “On the other hand, investors’ concerns about U.S. debt, inflation and the U.S.-Iran war are among the reasons for the recent global run-up in bond yields, which influence fixed-rate mortgages.”

Now you’d be hard pressed to find a fixed rate below the 4-per-cent mark, and as Rachelle Younglai reports, that’s already keeping buyers on the sidelines. Toronto home sales fell in August after five months of rebound, showing that the trade war may cancel out any confidence the steady rate decisions give buyers. Our coverage of the BoC’s decision has all the details, and here’s Erica’s guide to how Canada’s countertariffs might hit your wallet.

Back to the office

The office is back, in downtown Toronto at least

Has traffic seemed worse lately, or is your train to work really getting more crowded? If you’re in Toronto, it’s not just your imagination. Return-to-office mandates are bringing workers back to the downtown core – sometimes much to their chagrin – and transforming the urban economy in the process.

The reversal has been fast and shocking, as Jason Kirby, Rachelle Younglai and Vanmala Subramaniam report. Many of Toronto’s tallest towers are filled to the brim when, as recently as 15 months ago, blocks of their floors sat empty. Companies landlords once courted with steep discounts and perks are now competing for leases, turning corporate real-estate back into a landlord’s market.

But with many workers frustrated by long commute times and no desk space when they do come in, the return to office hasn’t been all smooth sailing. Read the team’s deep dive into how in-office mandates are reshaping Toronto’s downtown, and how employees are feeling about it.

This week’s lowest fixed and variable mortgage rates in Canada

Rates shown are the lowest available for each term/type and category (insured vs. uninsured) as of market close on Thursday, Sept. 3.

Zoning zone

Gentle density takes Calgary by storm

Looking for a home that’s anything but cookie-cutter? Much-needed “missing middle” housing is starting to look a little different in Calgary, thanks to changing land-use policies that leave designers room to get creative.

After the city allowed densification on lots previously zoned for just one or two dwellings, about 5,000 standard row houses popped up in two years. As Ximena Gonzalez reports, that zoning’s requirements for height, footprint and setback can make the designs seem repetitive, and they’ve changed the face of some Calgary neighbourhoods.

But after the city rescinded that policy, designers told Ximena they’re taking advantage of other recent land-use classifications that offer the flexibility to build livable multi-family dwellings with character. From a window-filled design that spared mature trees to a low-rise building geared at seniors and students, these Calgary projects are breaking the mould.

Design corner

Should you turn your closet into a home office?

If you – and your lower back – are tired of working from a kitchen stool or the couch, here’s a potential solution that won’t make your desk an eyesore. “Cloffices” are on the rise as people who work from home try to keep some semblance of work-life separation in smaller spaces.

But are they creative or claustrophobic? While working in a closet might make some feel like Harry Potter in his cupboard under the stairs, designers and people with cloffices told Matthew Hague the set-ups – if done right – are far from depressing. From folding desks in the pantry to built-in units that combine workspaces and storage, here are their expert tips and tricks to make a cloffice work.

Home of the Week

A manor home steeped in history

55 Cochrane Dr., Brockville, Ont. – Full gallery here

Civil engineer Samuel Keefer built this Georgian home four years before selecting the plans for the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, but you don’t have to be as technically minded as he was to appreciate the heritage details. Woodfield Manor – also sometimes called Butterfield Manor, after later owner George Butterfield – has been carefully restored to its original 1855 glory. And while not every heritage feature survived, those that remain continue to tell the home’s story.

Five marble fireplaces adorn the 6,000 square feet of living space, where the antique pine floors have been refurbished and ceilings soar high over original woodwork. Owners Debbie and Peter Lafrance thoughtfully reimagined the home as a hub for entertaining, adding modern features like a custom chef’s kitchen with large windows and heated black-and-white porcelain tiles in the entrance. But if you look closely, you’ll still see plenty of reminders of an earlier way of life, like the servant’s bell or the hitching post for horses outside.

The couple also spent long hours creating and mending a covered patio, in-ground pool, conservatory with motorized windows and a widow’s walk to enjoy the views of the Gananoque and the Thousand Islands area they’re both originally from. Atop the roof, the widow’s walk offers a perfect view of ships coming in and out of the harbour, and when sunset hits or bugs come out, they enjoyed taking cover in the conservatory with a glass of wine.