While the Bank of Canada has kept interest rate cuts on ice in recent announcements, TRREB chief information officer Jason Mercer suggested further rate reductions would “spur home sales and see more spin-off expenditures, positively impacting the economy and job growth.”
Is Vancouver’s housing market on the verge of a rebound?
In Canada’s other priciest real estate market, Vancouver, home sales fell by 2% last month compared to the same time last year, but Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) said it believes the city is turning a corner on home sales.
Residential sales came in at 2,286 across the region in July – but Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics, believes there are promising signs for the housing outlook in Vancouver.
“Although the Bank of Canada held the policy rate steady in July, this decision could help bolster sales activity by providing more certainty surrounding borrowing costs at a time where economic uncertainty lingers due to ongoing trade negotiations with the USA,” he said in statement accompanying the GVR’s press release.
Sales prices also fell across Vancouver. The composite benchmark price inched 2.7% lower year over year, coming in at just over $1.165 million, as new listings rose slightly (by 0.8% compared with July 2024, to 5,642).