Tariff Uncertainty Keeps Homebuyers on Sidelines

Canadian home sales fell sharply in February from January, during the first full month of the ongoing trade war with the United States.

Sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS systems dropped 9.8 per cent month-over-month in February, marking the lowest level for home sales since November 2023, and the largest month-over-month decline in activity since May 2022.

This follows the 3.3 per cent decline in sales in January from December.

“The moment tariffs were first announced on January 20, a gap opened between home sales recorded this year and last,” says Shaun Cathcart, senior economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association. “This trend continued to widen throughout February, leading to a significant, but hardly surprising, drop in monthly activity.”

Declines were broad-based, with sales falling in about three-quarters of all local markets and in almost all large markets. The trend was most pronounced in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding Greater Golden Horseshoe regions.

The number of newly listed properties also plunged 12.7 per cent month-over-month, returning all of the surprise surge recorded in January.

There were 146,250 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS systems at the end of February, up 13.1 per cent from a year earlier, but still below the long-term average for that time of the year of around 174,000 listings.