May was ‘another sleepy month’ for homebuyers. Will a rate cut wake them up?

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Home Sales News

Bank Of Canada,CREA,Interest Rate

The Canadian housing market remained cool in May, but CREA commentators expect the first interest rate cut of the cycle will bring buyers off the sidelines in months to come.

The first interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada since 2020 will not be enough to help most prospective homebuyers feeling sidelined by high borrowing costs, according to new polling conducted by Ipsos exclusively for Global News. Resident business reporter Anne Gaviola has more on the psychological impact of this shift in monetary policy.figures show transactions dipped 0.6 per cent between April and May.

“May was another sleepy month for housing activity in Canada, although it may prove to be the last of those now that interest rates have moved lower,” saidMay’s sales figures came in before the Bank of Canada’s decision at the start of this month to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points, broadly lowering the cost of borrowing and signalling the start of an expected easing cycle. The pace at which future cuts come, however, is uncertain.

Most Canadian housing markets have seen an uptick in the number of homes for sale in 2024, CREA noted. The number of newly listed homes was up half a percentage point month-to-month in May. A slowdown in sales means homes are listed for longer with more choice for the scant buyers in the market.At the end of last month, there were roughly 175,000 properties up for sale on CREA’s multiple-listings service, up 28.4 per cent from the same time last year but still below historical averages.

“The spring housing market usually starts before all the snow has melted, somewhere around the beginning of April, but this year I believe a lot of people were waiting for the Bank of Canada to wave the green flag,” said CREA chair James Mabey in a statement.

 

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