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Summary
2026 was supposed to be the year Canadian housing found its footing. Rates stabilized, prices came down, and there was cautious optimism that conditions would improve. Instead, the market stalled.
To understand why, we surveyed 1,015 real estate professionals for the Ownright Operators Report (Ownright’s annual survey of Canadian agents, brokerage managers, and owners) between March 27, 2026 and April 29, 2026. Canada’s 2026 housing market is stalled by hesitation, not affordability:
67% of professionals say clients are more risk-averse than they were pre-2022
40% cite broader economic uncertainty — such as recession fears — as the primary driver of hesitation, compared to employment or income stability (17%) and interest rates (15%)
Nearly one in four professionals (23%) say U.S. political or economic instability frequently impacts transactions, while 69% say it plays a role at least occasionally
Why are Canadian buyers hesitating in 2026, and what’s actually driving it?
Broader economic uncertainty is the top driver of buyer hesitation in Canada’s 2026 housing market, cited by 40% of real estate professionals, ahead of employment concerns (17%) and interest rates (15%). Affordability still matters, but uncertainty has become an equally powerful force. Sixty-seven per cent of pros say clients are more risk-averse than they were before 2022; only 5% say they’re less risk-averse.
Diving deeper into what’s driving the hesitation, professionals cite:
Broader economic uncertainty (e.g., recession fears): 40%
Employment/income stability concerns: 17%
Interest rates: 15%
Inflation: 11%
Geopolitical instability: 10%
Other: 6%
Immigration policy changes: 1%
Everyone assumes the slowdown is an affordability story. That’s true for many Canadians, but it’s not the whole picture. Even buyers who feel they can enter the market are pulling back. Uncertainty has become as powerful a barrier as price.
What is causing Canadian real estate deals to stall and fall through in 2026?
Client indecision is the top cause of transaction delays in Canadian real estate in 2026 (38%), followed by financing and mortgage approvals (28%).
When deals collapse entirely, the leading causes include:
Financing failure (34%)
Inspection findings (26%)
Buyer or seller withdrawal (10%)
Thirty-eight per cent of professionals also say that more deals are falling through due to financing issues than two years ago. When buyers take longer to commit, their financial circumstances can change. A buyer qualified three months ago may find themselves in a different position by the time they’re ready to move. The result is a market where hesitation actively kills deals, not just delays them.
Who is buying and selling in Canada’s housing market right now?
Canadian buyers in 2026 skew older: 30% are 35–44 and 24% are 45–54, while the typical first-time buyer cohort (25–34) is just 15%.
The full age breakdown that professionals are working with includes:
18–24: 0%
25–34: 15%
35–44: 30%
45–54: 24%
55–64: 18%
65+: 7%
Prefer not to say: 6%
What’s notable is that the 25–34 cohort typically anchors a healthy market as the first-time buyer crowd. Younger buyers have been squeezed by a difficult savings environment and a climate of uncertainty that makes long-term commitment feel daunting.
How confident are you that Canada’s real estate market will rebound in the next 12 months?
On the question of whether the market will rebound in the next 12 months, the industry is genuinely split:
43% are confident
28% are neutral
25% are pessimistic
The near-even spread across three very different positions reflects something important: the professionals closest to this market, the ones in the deals every day, don't have a clear read on where things go from here. For many years, optimism has been the default in this market, so this contrast says a lot about how much has changed.
What does this mean for Canadians thinking about buying or selling a home in 2026?
Canada’s 2026 housing market is stalled by hesitation. Buyers and sellers are waiting for a confidence neither side can manufacture. The longer they wait, the more their circumstances can change: pre-approvals expire, listings move on, and the moment they finally feel ready looks different from the one they’d been planning for. The Canadians who move this year won’t be the ones who feel most confident; they’ll be the ones who feel informed enough to act anyway.
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