Canada Housing Research Brief

Breath of life seen in housing sector. Canada’s residential market has been under pressure throughout the first half of 2025. Affordability challenges and ongoing trade uncertainties have tempered buyer confidence despite lower borrowing costs. As of May, year-to-date homes sales were down 11 per cent, curbing the price recovery that had started to build over the latter parts of last year. Yet as Canada came out of April’s “Liberation Day” and subsequent adjustments relatively unscathed, home sales rose 3.6 per cent monthly in May. Although still down 3.0 per cent year over year, the average price of a single-family home also showed some stabilization as a result. Meanwhile, early reports suggest Canada and the United States are closing in on a trade agreement. Along with lower borrowing costs helping affordability, this could fuel further momentum over the rest of 2025