This week: Experts say that homeowners waiting to sell their house until the market improves could be in it for the long haul, and might be hurting themselves in the process. Plus, a Calgary couple searches for a new home, and one property worth a look.

In 2018, Al Sow and Aissatou Thiam moved into a two-bedroom rental apartment in Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood, paying $975 a month. A year later, their son, Kadia, was born. At the time, they shopped around for a larger rental but came up empty. But when their daughter was born in 2022, the family was reaching the limits on their rental. Having saved up enough for a decent down payment, the couple began looking for a home with at least three bedrooms, a backyard, and close to their children’s school. Click here to see what they picked, and let us know if you agreed with their choice.

With home prices across Canada falling for the last three years, a segment of would-be sellers are trying to wait out a stagnant market. For many, sitting on the sidelines means putting life plans on hold or continuing to white-knuckle their way through unaffordable home payments. After a frenetic pandemic-fuelled run-up that pushed the country’s average home prices to a record high of $816,720 in February, 2022, prices have tumbled and sales activity has slowed. In September, average Canadian home prices were sitting at $676,154, down 17 per cent from the record high.

As Kelsey Rolfe writes, one Toronto mortgage broker says homebuyers waiting on better prices are basing that on a “false hope” that better prices are just around the corner. Other experts worry that the costs of delaying a sale might outweigh the benefits, especially if it’s putting sellers into financial difficulty.

Rates shown are the lowest available for each term/type and category (insured versus uninsured) as of market close on Thursday, Nov. 13.

On Nov. 13, data editor Mahima Singh and reporter Salmaan Farooqui answered reader questions about The Globe’s first list of the most renter-friendly cities, and the state of the rental market in the country. Readers asked about what went into making the list, why Albertan cities ranked at the top, and what’s going on with rent prices in Canada. Here’s a highlight from the Q&A.

Why is the price of rentals going down? Does it have to do with the housing market?

Farooqui: Three things are happening in Canada that are bringing rents down in most places. First, there’s been an unusually high number of housing projects completed this year. You have tons of landlords who are getting possession of their units and many are struggling to rent them out.

Canada is also cutting immigration levels significantly, and that’s affecting demand across the country, including in markets near colleges.

The current economic outlook is pretty glum right now too, and there’s a lot of uncertainty around our trade relationship with the U.S. People are concerned about their jobs, and I think it’s hard to have a booming rental market in a time like this.

670 Richmond St. W., unit 205, Toronto –