Ya the interest rate for sure encourages people to keep buying too. Last I checked, the rental market was suffering in the GTA. I actually know a few people who are unable to find tenants. Some of that is people moving out of the GTA since they can work remotely and buy cheaper property elsewhere. Another reason is that we aren't letting people/immigrants in our country due to covid and they are usually the prime candidates to rent.
There were also reports that some of the big Real Estate companies were buying and selling properties internally to create the illusion of the buying market being hot by advertising "home sold for 250K over asking price." I can't verify any of that so take that for what it's worth.