Weekly Real Estate News
Home sales across Canada were down sharply during February, a decline that was attributed to apprehension over the tariff war with the Trump administration.
Sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS Systems plummeted by 9.8% from January to February, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). This marked the lowest level for home sales since November 2023 and the largest month-over-month decline in activity since May 2022. Compared to February 2024, activity was down by 10.4%.
There were 146,250 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS Systems at the end of February, up 13.1% year-over-year but below the long-term average for that time of the year of around 174,000 listings. The number of newly listed properties dropped 12.7% month-over-month.
The National Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) declined by 0.8% from January to February, the largest month-over-month decrease since December 2023; the year-over-year decline was 1%. The national average sale price of $668,097 was down 3.3% from $690,903 in February 2024.
“The moment tariffs were first announced on January 20, a gap opened between home sales recorded this year and last. This trend continued to widen throughout February, leading to a significant, but hardly surprising, drop in monthly activity,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist. “This is already being reflected in renewed price softness, particularly in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe region.”
I was interested in reading about “WHY” you, your team or whomever established this takeaway (“Sharp Drop in Canadian Home Sales Blamed on Tariffs”) was able to reach that conclusion but the author of this piece did not provide any evidence to support the headline. I am not doubting that tariffs may have played a role but you gave me nothing to use to support this. So, at this point is merely a theory.