‘Holding steady:’ Real estate in a bit of a lull, says home builders’ association
With interest rates dropping, there was a lot of optimism heading into the spring real estate market.
“We were thinking that coming into the spring with interest rates doing what they have been, things were going to be ramping right back up again,” said Brent Klundert, chair of the Windsor Essex Home Builders’ Association, who feels the market is tricky. “I wouldn’t trust my crystal ball for any predictions.”
The tariff war and political landscape have changed the course of the market.
“Are more tariffs coming? Are they not? Will people have jobs and be working? So, until they know and they’re more comfortable, they’re kind of just holding steady,” said Dan Gemus of the Dan Gemus Real Estate Team.
The uncertainty caused housing prices and demand to plummet across Canada. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, home sales in March fell 9.3 per cent compared to the same time last year.
“At a time when we have such a housing shortage. A lot of builders, residential developers are left with a lot of inventory sitting there,” noted Klundert, who said builders aren’t necessarily in panic mode. “Builders that have been in the game for a while know that you have to ride out these times and hopefully when data becomes a little bit more certainty in the market, people will return and be ready to make that bigger purchase.”
