With interest rates trending downward and more reductions expected in 2025, the Canadian real estate market appears poised for growth. According to Geoff Lang, senior vice president at Equiton, the real estate companies best positioned to benefit are those who have already laid a strong foundation during recent economic challenges.

With rate cuts stimulating real estate activity and momentum in the capital markets, Geoff Lang, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Equiton, sees an opportunity for advisors to incorporate real estate into client portfolios, leveraging its potential for long-term stability, income, and growth.

Leveraging rate cuts and strategic acquisitions, Equiton strengthens its multifamily portfolio and positions itself for continued success in Canadian real estate. As interest rates continue to fall, some real estate investors see a prime opportunity to capitalize on market conditions. Geoff Lang, SVP of Business Development at private equity real estate firm Equiton, explains how the current environment offers a unique window to acquire valuable properties at attractive prices before rates fall further and valuations rise.

If there’s one thing Canadians like to talk about, it’s home prices. That’s something Erkan Yönder, now an associate professor of finance at Concordia University, noticed when he arrived in Montreal more than five years ago and opened his first Canadian bank account.

Housing affordability may be the biggest issue facing Canadians today. A poll from Abacus Data found that 64 per cent of people believe that homeownership comes with risk and financial strain, while 81 per cent say the dream of owning a home is slipping away.

It’s not often that bonds and stocks end up in the red in the same year, but that’s what happened in 2022 when rising interest rates sunk both asset classes. As painful as that may have been for many investors, it reinforced the importance of owning a diversified portfolio – one that holds more than just equities and fixed income.

“I noticed that there was such a desire for people to invest in real estate and there weren’t a lot of options available,” says Jason Roque, the company’s founder and CEO, who spent the better part of two decades as a real estate investor and developer. “This is where we stepped in to give Canadians access.”

“We’ve gone from rising interest rates to now two successive decreases. That’s a completely different cycle that we’ve just entered, and it’s really positive for what we participate in—private Canadian apartments,” says Geoff Lang, SVP of Business Development at private equity real estate firm Equiton. This pivotal shift in the economic cycle underscores the growing relevance for stable alternative investments in today’s market climate.

When it comes to investing in income-producing real estate, the topic of capitalization rates (or “cap” rates) is unavoidable. Cap rates have steadily increased among most Canadian property types in the high-interest environment of the past few years, particularly in key markets like the Greater Toronto Area, prompting hesitation among real estate investors.

4.4 million Canadians own a residential investment property, according to Royal LePage. When rates stayed low between the great financial crisis and 2022, those millions of Canadians were sold a dream of cashflow, rapid price appreciation, and the entrepreneurial dream of becoming a DIY property investor.