Canadian home sales rise for fourth straight month as buyers return

[OTTAWA] Canadian home sales rose for a fourth straight month as growing confidence the economy will weather US tariffs draws more buyers back into the market.

National home sales were up 3.8 per cent in July from June, bringing the total gain in transactions since March to 11.2 per cent, according to data released on Friday (Aug 15) by the Canadian Real Estate Association. That boost was led by the country’s largest city, Toronto, which has now seen transactions rebound 35.5 per cent since March, though the total number remains low by historical standards.

Prospective homebuyers have been returning to a market that has tipped more in their favour. The total number of properties up for sale across the country last month was 10.1 per cent higher than last year. And the benchmark price was C$688,700 (S$639,464), unchanged from the month before and 3.4 per cent lower than a year earlier. That decrease was smaller than in June, and the board expects year-over-year declines to continue shrinking, it said in a statement. 

“The shock and maybe the dread that we felt back in February, March and April, seems to have faded,” Shaun Cathcart, the real estate board’s senior economist, said in an interview. “If they’re not concerned about their future employment the way they were maybe five months ago, I think we’re going to see more people come off the sidelines.”

Fears of recession from US President Donald Trump’s trade war slowed Canada’s economy and its housing market in the first part of 2025. But economic growth has held up, in large part because much of the pain from tariffs has been confined to industries singled out for levies, including autos, steel and aluminum. BLOOMBERG