November 13, 2026 · David Kurt, Lake City Realty
Hey Sudbury!
As I started putting this together on Thursday, the first little bit of snow was coming down.
Give it another month and we could be digging out driveways, looking for that missing winter glove and wondering why we didn’t get a few more things done in October.
Silver Stick is also bringing hockey families into town. Teams from Georgian Bay, across Northern Ontario and beyond. That means busy rinks, hotels, Airbnbs, restaurants and sports stores. These weekends bring a lot to our community.
On the real estate side, I’m seeing a little more urgency too. Buyers who have spent weeks looking are starting to make decisions.
Here are five things on my mind this week.
Sudbury market activity — six weeks at a glance
Week New Sold Pending Holds Off market
Sept. 30–Oct. 6 51 39 27 4 42
Oct. 7–13 28 45 6 0 13
Oct. 14–20 58 43 19 8 23
Oct. 21–27 35 38 10 2 18
Oct. 28–Nov. 3* 37 43 12 2 50
Nov. 4–10 48 29 19 3 18Taken off market includes cancellations, expiries and suspensions. We caught a few additional transactions when checking last week’s overlapping reports and updated those numbers. Seven of this week’s 18 removals had already relisted.
1. The offers are becoming a little more reasonable.
Last week, I talked about a buyer throwing low offers at four different houses, trying to find the most desperate seller.
This week, we’re having more conversations that feel like they could actually turn into a deal.
We’re negotiating on homes that have been sitting for weeks. Buyers are picking a place and working through the price. It’s especially noticeable with first-time buyers, but we’re seeing it across the board.
The typical sale came in about $11,200 below asking, compared with roughly $14,900 the week before. And 24 of the 29 sales still went more than $1,000 under asking.
So there’s still plenty of back and forth. But buyers seem more willing to work with us, and I think they’re watching the calendar too.
2. Sudbury winter puts a deadline on both sides.
In much of southern Ontario, you can keep looking through winter without it changing your plans all that much.
Here, you might shovel twice before heading out for a showing. Then you’re standing in the backyard trying to imagine what’s underneath three feet of snow.
We talk about sellers wanting to get something done before winter. Buyers are thinking about it too.
If you want to be moved in before Christmas, there are only so many weekends left. I think that’s part of why people who have been looking for a while are finally choosing something.
There were still 48 new listings this week, though. If you’re selling, take a look at what else your buyer could go see on Saturday. They certainly will.
3. The same house could feel more expensive by spring.
I’m still not hearing buyers talk much about monthly payments changing. I think we’ll hear more about that in spring.
We had clients getting mortgages in the high threes earlier this year. Now we’re looking at something around 4.35% for a three-year fixed, depending on the buyer and the mortgage. Mortgage-rate comparison
So take a $500,000 bungalow in New Sudbury. Put $100,000 down and spread the mortgage over 25 years.
At 3.75%, you’re paying about $2,050 a month. Around today’s rate, that’s closer to $2,180. If we get to 4.5% in spring, you’re looking at about $2,215—before property taxes and the other bills.
Same house. Same down payment. About $165 more every month than when you started looking.
For someone shopping around a payment they’re comfortable with, that matters. They may have to offer less, put more down or look at a different house.
Now throw in all the sellers waiting for spring. We have more than 20 potential listings in our own pipeline. I think there could be a lot of choice, and buyers may find their money doesn’t go as far as they expected.
We don’t know where rates will be. But I wouldn’t count on spring automatically getting a seller the price they couldn’t get this fall.
4. Sudbury could become home base for more northern workers.
Ben Rabidoux wrote in The Loonie Hour this week that he’s raised his Canadian population-growth forecast. That got me thinking about where people coming north will choose to live.
I see a lot of potential in workers doing rotations. One week in, one week out. Two weeks at a time. Some of those people are going to want Sudbury as their home base.
Healthcare, education and the businesses around mining still look strong from what I’m seeing. If immigration is directed toward filling those jobs, I think we’ll see more people looking for accommodations here.
And community makes a difference. Over the past five years, we’ve seen newcomer communities grow, including our Indian community. Having friends, familiar food and people to help you settle in gives someone a reason to stay.
That’s part of why I’m positive about where Sudbury is headed.
5. We need the pipes before we can build the houses.
We’re an older city, and a lot of our infrastructure is older too. You can have land and someone ready to build, but if the water and sewer systems can’t handle it, you’re stuck.
We’ve seen money go toward opening up growth in Lively and Walden. Now there’s $45.3 million for Garson-area infrastructure, which the mayor says could make room for 4,720 homes over time.
There’s government money available to help cities get housing built. This is the sort of work that lets us move toward those housing targets.
The Garson agreement also means the city gives up residential development charges for three years. Lively and Walden received funding through separate programs.
I like seeing this happen. We need housing, and fixing the bottlenecks gives builders somewhere to go. I’ll be interested to see what gets built and what people will actually be able to buy it for. Read the local story
That’s it for this week, Sudbury.
Enjoy the hockey if you’re at the rinks. And if you’re out looking at houses, I’d love to hear what you’re seeing.
For my Opportunity of the Week and Biggest Surprise of the Week, get the full Five Bullet Friday by email.
David
Lake City Realty
