Home sales ‘surged’ in April as buyers came off the sidelines

The housing market in Canada has been warming this spring after a rapid rise in interest rates put a chill in buyers and sellers alike.

Canada’s housing market continues to bounce back this spring as appetite from buyers is “vastly outpacing” supply coming from sellers, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

CREA said in a release Monday that April’s home sales “surged” up 11.3 per cent from March, following a trend that’s seen activity in the housing market pick back up since the start of 2023.

The market has been warming this spring after a rapid rise in interest rates put a chill on buyers and sellers alike. Last month’s sales activity remained nearly 20 per cent below April 2022, however, when the housing market was still riding pandemic-era highs tied to low rates.

The pickup in sales has been tied to the Greater Toronto Area and lower mainland in British Columbia, CREA said.

“With interest rates at a top, and home prices at a bottom, it wasn’t all that surprising to see buyers jumping off the sidelines and back into the market in April,” said CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart in a statement.

But these buyers are seemingly snapping up the few properties available on the market without letting supply build, CREA said.

The sales-to-new-listings ratio jumped up to 70.2 per cent in April, compared with 64.1 per cent in March and the long-term average of 55.1 per cent.

Cathcart did note that the first week of May has seen a “burst of new supply,” suggesting some of those who bought last month might now be listing their properties.