National home sales plummeted year over year in April while prices are also on the way down
Sales across Canada’s housing market continued to tumble in April, sliding by 9.8% compared with the same time last year as economic unease kept potential buyers sidelined.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Thursday that national home sales fell from 49,135 in April 2024 to 44,300 last month and remained largely flat compared with March, ticking 0.1% lower.
While interest rates have fallen over the past year, spurred by rate cuts from the Bank of Canada, ongoing tension over the potential impact of Donald Trump’s trade war on the Canadian economy is continuing to weigh down the market, according to CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart.
He suggested an economic downturn and rise in unemployment could leave the market in a tricky spot if homeowners are forced to sell.
“At this point, the 2025 Canadian housing story would best be described as a return to the quiet markets we’ve experienced since 2022, with tariff uncertainty taking the place of high interest rates in keeping buyers on the sidelines,” he said.
“Given the increasing potential for a rough economic patch ahead, the risk going forward will be if an average number of people trying to sell their homes turns into a large number of people who have to sell their homes, and that’s something we have not seen in decades.”
Canadian 🏠 sales were unchanged in April 2025, while new listings fell 1% month-over-month. Details 👉 https://t.co/ABP2i2Kfbk #CREAstats pic.twitter.com/ZEsy1xLhil
— CREA | ACI (@CREA_ACI) May 15, 2025
As new listings rose, the MLS Home Price Index fell on both a monthly and year-over-year basis. Compared with the same time last year, it fell 3.6%, while it was down 1.2% compared with March.
The number of properties listed for sale climbed to 183,000, a 14.3% jump from April 2024 but below the long-term average for the month, driven largely by a flood of supply in British Columbia and Ontario.
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