1 week Ago By Joel Schlesinger, for the Calgary Herald
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Trade war concerns with the United States weighed heavily on Canadians’ minds who were seeking to buy a home in March, a new report has suggested.
RBC Economics Focus on Housing report cited how fears about a trade war have made resale conditions in most large cities “frostier.” Many real estate boards reported weaker sales and home prices in March. These include the Toronto region, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Vancouver and Fraser Valley.
For resales, Fraser Valley experienced the largest year-over-year decline at nearly 26 per cent among major markets, followed by Toronto at 23 per cent. Calgary was next with a nearly 19 per cent slide. Vancouver sales declined about 13 per cent.
Montreal and Edmonton were outliers last month. Edmonton’s sales grew about one per cent higher, and Montreal’s were up nearly 12 per cent year over year. New listings grew in every market led by Vancouver where they increased 29 per cent, followed by Toronto at just under 29 per cent, and Fraser Valley at 27 per cent.
Calgary also saw its new listings rise nearly 27 per cent year over year. Montreal new listings increased nearly 16 per cent and Edmonton’s were up 7.5 per cent.
Overall, major cities are seeing historically low sales. Toronto’s resales in March were at their lowest point since early in the pandemic, and otherwise lower than at any point in the last decade. Vancouver sales last month are also at historical lows going back more than a decade, RBC found.
Even Montreal’s resales, while higher than last March, remain at the historical average. And while Calgary resales are far below the 2022 peak and down from last year, activity is still higher than decade average..
