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Canada\u2019s housing market closed out 2025 with less momentum than many had expected, as home sales dipped in December and prices showed early signs of softening in several major cities.<\/p>\n
According to new data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales fell 2.7% month over month in December, while total transactions for the year came in at 470,314 \u2014 down 1.9% from 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere doesn\u2019t appear to have been much rhyme or reason to the month-over-month decline in home sales in December,\u201d said Shaun Cathcart, CREA\u2019s senior economist, in a statement. \u201cFor that reason, it would be prudent for market observers to resist the temptation to trace a line from the end of 2025 into 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
December\u2019s slowdown reinforces that the housing market is no longer being driven by urgency or fear of missing out, according to Joel Fox, COO and co-founder of Ownright, who spoke with Money.ca.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe quiet finish to 2025 reinforces that this is a negotiation-first market rather than a momentum-driven one,\u201d Fox said. \u201cBuyers shouldn\u2019t expect bidding wars to suddenly reappear just because rates are lower, and sellers shouldn\u2019t assume prices will rebound quickly without concessions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox said buyers are moving more selectively, weighing price, condition and long-term value rather than acting quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sellers, that means realistic pricing and flexibility matter more than timing,\u201d he said. \u201cFor buyers, it\u2019s an opportunity to negotiate on terms, conditions, and price, but only if they\u2019re comfortable with a longer decision cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
CREA has cautioned against assuming December\u2019s softness is a signal of where 2026 is headed. Fox agrees, and says misreading the current environment could lead to costly mistakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest risk is assuming that flat activity automatically equals recovery,\u201d Fox said. \u201cA quiet market doesn\u2019t mean prices are about to rise. Because of tariff uncertainty and a challenging labour market, people are waiting for clearer signals that the market will actually be stable.\u201d<\/p>\n
That uncertainty, he said, can push buyers to rush unnecessarily or sellers to hold out too long.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBuyers may assume they need to act before prices rebound, while sellers may wait for spring momentum to do the work for them,\u201d Fox said. \u201cBoth assumptions can backfire.\u201d<\/p>\n