Relax: yet another report says Toronto’s real-estate prices are headed for a soft landing

There’s a definite undercurrent of gloom in Toronto’s real-estate market, thanks in part to a booming condo-construction sector that for years, according to analysts, has threatened to outstrip demand. Now, a different group of analysts is saying that all those overbuilding fears are overblown.

According to the Canadian Press, a new report from the Conference Board of Canda argues that low mortgage costs are likely to keep demand for housing strong, even in condo-happy Toronto. Supposing mortgage rates start rising, the group predicts only a modest real-estate price correction, rather than the rapid crash some observers have predicted. Reports from other organizations have reached more or less the same conclusion, but some analysts foresee bigger price fluctuations in the near future. TD Economics, for instance, has said that Toronto condo prices are likely to drop by four per cent in 2014 and 2015—which wouldn’t constitute a crash, exactly, though it would be serious.

And so while now might not be the time to buy up condos with wild abandon, it’s probably not a bad idea to hold off on the panic.