Not Just The Winter Weather: The Real Estate Market Is Frozen

The Canadian Real Estate Investor · Feb 27, 2026 · 39m

Canada's weak housing market start to 2026, debating whether January's 16.2% year-over-year sales decline signals a deeper slowdown or just winter seasonality.⁠⁠​

National weakness across metrics: Sales down 16.2% YoY, new listings up 7.3%, sales-to-new listings ratio fell to 45%, and HPI down 4.9% YoY⁠⁠​

Regional divergence: Ontario markets (Hamilton, Oakville) down double digits, while secondary markets like Quebec City and Sudbury show double-digit gains⁠⁠​Investor positioning:

Buyers have more negotiating leverage; sellers need to price correctly as multiple offers are limited to select…