Home sales up in March as buyers re-enter market with historically low supply

National homes sales continued to rise in March while markets are considerably tightening as sidelined buyers return, according to a report by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The 1.4 per cent increase in sales recorded by Multiple Listing Service (MLS) systems marked the first back-to-back monthly gains in more than a year, CREA said. The gains in the past two months show that the housing-market slowdown might be turning around.

The association, which represents more than 100,000 realtors, updated its 2023 and 2024 resale housing market forecasts on April 14 following the modest monthly gains posted in February and March.

“As the spring market heats up and it looks as though some buyers are coming off the sidelines, it’s important to remember that the intense market conditions of recent years have not gone anywhere, they’ve just been on pause,” CREA chair Jill Oudil said in a press release.