Sellers are 'back in the driver's seat' in Toronto's housing market, RBC says

A housing correction that RBC once called ‘historic’ appears to have run its course and sellers are now “back in the driver’s seat in most major markets,” a new report from the bank suggests.

A housing correction that RBC once called ‘historic’ appears to have run its course and sellers are now “back in the driver’s seat in most major markets,” a new report from the bank suggests.

In a report published, RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue said that “spring 2023 increasingly looks like the turnaround point for Canada’s housing market after a year-long slump,” with home sales across Canada rising 11.3 per cent month-over-month in April.

He said that the average benchmark price also increased in about three-quarters of all markets tracked by the bank last month, including in Toronto where prices rose 2.4 per cent to an average of $1.1 million.

Prices were up 5.4 per cent month-over-month in Hamilton and 3.9 per cent in Kitchener-Waterloo.

“Earlier tentative signs of a turnaround in Toronto and Vancouver were confirmed in a big way in April,” the report notes.

“Home resales jumped 27% and 25% m/m, respectively, rolling back roughly one-quarter of the correction in one go. It appears buyers are quickly regaining confidence in both markets now that the Bank of Canada has paused its aggressive rate hike campaign.”