The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that falling interest rates and Ottawa's recently announced changes to mortgage rules -- raising the cap for insured mortgages and expanding the 30-year amortization period to first-time homebuyers of resale properties -- could give the housing market a boost in 2025. The Globe's Jennifer Dowty writes that TD Economics has updated its economic forecasts, arguing that the housing market will be strong next year. TD is forecasting a further 200 basis points of cuts: 50 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2024, 125 basis points in 2025 and another 25 basis points in the first quarter of 2026, bringing the overnight rate down to 2.25 per cent from the current 4.25 per cent. TD also raised its 2025 home sales and price forecasts for all provinces from its June forecast. In 2025, annual average existing home prices are forecast to rise between 3.6 and 7 per cent across the 10 provinces with the strongest growth expected for the Prairie provinces and the biggest rises in Ontario. TD economist Rishi Sondhi told The Globe, "Our forecast has home sales picking up in the fourth quarter of this year -- not high sales levels, we're just talking about increases off a low base."