Canada’s real estate market will rebound in spring

Canadian realtors believe potential buyers which were priced out of the market earlier will return to house hunting this spring.

They expect Canadians to get back to the market as the central bank stopped its rate-increasing cycle.

The fast cycle of sharp hikes eroded buying power as borrowing costs went up and caused prices declines, forcing sellers to wait for a better moment to list their properties.

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the average housing price fell by 19% from its February 2022 peak of $816,578 to $662,437 last month. BMO Capital Markets’ chief economist expects prices to start going up again after showing a 20-25% decline. Now, realtors see more and more buyers getting ready to make a purchase.

“We saw a wave of buyers in January and February, and the tendency continues. We’ve started seeing multiple offers and bully offers again,” – noted a Toronto broker with Sage Real Estate Ltd.

“We’re getting calls from buyers ready to adjust their needs in order not to miss a good opportunity.”

In Vancouver, realtors are also noticing a rebound in buyers’ demand.

After the Bank of Canada made it clear that further interest rate increases were quite unlikely, properties started selling faster and with multiple offers. However, not everyone believes we are returning to the insane pace of 2021, mostly because of the lack of supply.

CREA says there were 51,366 new listings in February, which is 26% less than a year ago. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the number reaches 57,535, marking an almost 8% drop from January.