Thanksgiving marks a special time of year in which we express gratitude and something to be thankful for. This year is going to be a little different. Gathering around a table with loved ones to enjoy a bountiful feast will have to wait. We have to plan to make sure this year ’s Thanksgiving holiday is safe during this pandemic, Canada’s top public health officer has urged, as case counts continue to soar in several parts of the country, especially Ontario and Quebec.

Toronto’s housing market soared in September. Another month where sales and prices hit record highs, with historic low mortgage rates enticing buyers despite the worsening virus crisis. Last month, 11,083 homes sold in the Toronto region, a 42-per-cent increase over September of last year, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), with the biggest gains in the 905 and regions surrounding the City of Toronto. That was the third straight month of record sales volumes.

Competition for detached and semi-detached houses helped send the average selling price across all types of properties up 14 per cent to $960,772, compared with the previous year. For the City of Toronto, the average sale price is $1,022,051. Prices have been climbing month over month since May, after the slowdown in April. Despite the new listings, competition is fierce for low-rise properties, where there is more square footage and easier access to outdoor space. The regions surrounding the city of Toronto experienced the steepest price increases.

Meanwhile, demand for condos in downtown Toronto has softened as the normal cohort of renters, including post-secondary students, shrinks because of the pandemic restrictions. One-bedroom rental rates have declined by at least 20 per cent since the start of the health crisis, according to local brokers. Having said that, the average price of a condo in the city of Toronto was $686,191, up 7 per cent from September of last year. The average detached home in Toronto saw a 9 per cent increase to $1,487,122 and semi-detached homes were up 7 per cent to $1,145, 559 .