Toronto home prices ticked up after five straight months of declines as Canada-US trade tensions eased and valuations at their lowest point in four years began to tempt buyers.
The benchmark price of a home in Canada’s largest city climbed 0.1% in May from April, reaching C$992,800 ($723,800), according to seasonally adjusted data released Wednesday by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.
Though US tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and cars remain, US President Donald Trump framed his desire to make Canada the 51st state in softer terms during his meeting last month with Prime Minister Mark Carney. As Trump has focused his trade polices elsewhere, Toronto’s would-be homebuyers have been able to focus more on the real estate market.
Sales perked up 8.4% in May from the month before, outpacing the 3.2% gain in new listings, Toronto real estate board data show. Shoppers may have been lured in by lower prices. The benchmark home price in April had hit its lowest point since the same month in 2021, according to data for Toronto from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
“Homeownership costs are more affordable this year compared to last,” Jason Mercer, the Toronto real estate board’s chief information officer, said in a statement. “All else being equal, sales should be up relative to 2024.”
Still, with so much economic uncertainty due to the trade war, transactions in May were down 13% from a year earlier, while the total number of houses on the market in Toronto was 42% higher, the data show.
“The issue is a lack of economic confidence,” he said, adding that he expects the housing market to pick up once the trade tensions are resolved.
CMP
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