Canada Housing Research Brief

Buyers remain sidelined. Home sales fell for the fifth consecutive month in April — down 0.1 per cent. Demand is now largely aligned with the late-2022 and early-2023 period, when elevated interest rates were taking hold. This time, though, restrictive lending conditions have been replaced by tariff uncertainties. Potential buyers that were waiting for lower mortgage rates have since stayed on the sidelines amid economic and labour market concerns. Sellers also wait for buyer confidence to return, resulting in the number of newly listed properties edging down 1.0 per cent in April. While the sales-to-new-listings ratio inched up slightly, it was well below the nation’s long-term average. The median sale price of a single-family home was down 1.1 per cent monthly in April, translating into a 3.1 per cent year-over-year drop. More expensive metros, such as Toronto and Vancouver, have been the main drivers in the nation’s overall price decline