The Latest in the Trade Sauga, and Toronto Home Sales Drop by 27%

This week’s top real estate stories.

By  Jared Lindzon | 2 minute read

Every Friday, Wahi brings you the most important real estate stories from the past week. 

The Tariff Dance Continues

What the Wall Street Journal labelled “the dumbest trade war in history” became a reality this week, albeit just briefly. On Tuesday President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping 25% tariff on all Canadian goods only to announce yet another pause on those goods that fall under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on Thursday. The whiplash was felt across the Canadian economy, with the dollar, the TSX, and interest rate expectations seeing yo-yo like patterns in the wake of the turmoil. The latest pause will expire on April 2, at which point the Canadian economy will once again hinge on a last-ditch diplomacy effort. 

Too Many Homes on the Range

Canada’s cowboy capital has been herding buyers from coast to coast in recent years, but now Calgary is seeing a stampede out of the market. According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, home sales plummeted 19.3% in February compared to last year, while inventory climbed 76% during that period, with most of the increase attributed to homes priced under $500,000. As a result, properties are sitting on the market for an average of 33 days, or about 34% longer than last year. Sales remain above long-term trends, but the data suggests Calgary’s recent housing boom may be losing steam.  

Ford More Years  

The votes have been tallied, and Ontarians have officially re-ordered the usual in their provincial leadership. Last week Doug Ford won a third straight majority government for his Progressive Conservative party, with significant implications for the country’s largest housing market. Putting the Premier’s various real estate scandals aside Ford has pledged to streamline building code approvals, lower development charges, and put an additional $1 billion into the province’s $1.8 billion Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program. The Premier has also promised another billion for the Skills Development Fund to increase the construction workforce and $50 million for modular home building technology.

Go North, Young Renter  

Canada’s hottest rental markets are also some of its coldest, temperature-wise. According to a new report by RentCafe, Winnipeg saw the most growth in interest from apartment seekers in the last quarter of 2024, followed by the even chillier Edmonton, with Victoria landing in third. Moncton also saw a surge of interest, leaping 19 places to land in sixth. Searches for rentals in Saskatoon, meanwhile, have plummeted since Q3, moving from second place to 21st. While the biggest cities still see the most demand, their popularity remained similar or slightly lower in Q4 than the previous quarter.

Toronto Home Sales Tank

Like its professional sports teams, Toronto’s housing market is failing to live up to expectations. According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, home sales declined 27.4% in February, compared to February 2024, and 28.5% from January, which itself saw a decline of nearly 8%. New listings also increased 5.4% in the GTA, while prices dropped by 2.2% to an average of just below $1.085 million. Last month the board predicted GTA home sales would increase by 12.4% this year and prices would increase by 2.6%, but so far the market has been trending in the opposite direction.   

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