One of the most lingering and widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are the ramifications on housing in markets across Canada. When the pandemic was declared in March of 2020, great fears arose of the unknown consequences of COVID-19. Lockdowns and fear of catching the disease, let alone dying of it, led to fears it would affect daily life, particularly, destroying the Canadian economy. In a defensive move, the Bank of Canada cut its overnight rate to .25%, with mortgage rates tumbling in tandem. Canadians, who are for the most part quite mortgage savvy and know a great deal when they see one, went on a home buying spree, using borrowed money that was as close as possible to being free. Every home put up for sale sold practically immediately. As supply dwindled, buyers faced bidding wars to buy a home, sending prices soaring across the country. But buyers didn’t care, mortgage rates were low, and people were lined up to buy, believing their homes would build great equity. It was tantamount to the great gold rush of 1849, people thought, except, it wasn’t. .When the great gold rush ended, all the folks who bought gold had something that retained its value and that value continues to grow. Gold was and is a winner. But those homes? Some winners and some losers, depending on where and when those homes were sold. That .25% Bank of Canada overnight rate lasted until the end of 2021 and by March of 2022, it reached 5%. Today it sits at 2.75%. Some of the homes bought in the ‘great homes rush’ of the early 2020s have increased in value, others have not. Online real estate portal, Zoocasa went looking for the winners, noting many Canadians who bought in the spring of 2022 or 2023 locked in the highest home values their markets had ever seen. Others chose to wait, sidestepping the peak in hopes of a better deal. Zoocasa tallied the lowest spring prices of homes sold in March and April over the past three years in major Canadian markets, comparing them to April prices this year, to see where early buyers gained equity and then gauged whether waiting to buy paid off, finding some buyers saved tens or even hundreds of thousands by holding out. .While the major markets get the most attention, Zoocasa says smaller Quebec cities outperformed expectations. Saguenay CMA saw a 38% increase, from an *average price of $260,498 in March 2023 to $359,383 in April 2025, a gain of nearly $100,000. Close behind was Trois-Rivières with a 29.9% increase, from an average of $289,504 in March 2022 to $381,835 in April 2025, followed by Quebec CMA, where prices climbed from an average of $361,502 in March 2022 to $461,519 in April 2025, an increase of 28%. Zoocasa found buyers who waited for the rush to subside and bought in 2025. “If you stayed on the sidelines during the 2022 buying frenzy, especially in Ontario or BC, you might be patting yourself on the back now,” says the Zoocasa report, listing markets that have had steep declines from their peak prices. In the Hamilton-Burlington area, buyers who waited paid an average of $218,164 less than those who purchased during the 2022 spring peak. In the Fraser Valley, the average price declined by $196,623 over the same period and by $192,505 in the Greater Toronto Area. .The message is, you can’t ‘time’ a real estate market, says the report. “Perfectly timing the market is rarely achievable, but understanding local trends and maintaining financial readiness can position buyers and sellers to act when the right opportunity arises,” says Zoocasa. “And when we’re talking about savings significant enough to cover your dream kitchen renovation, a luxury Disney vacation, or a post-secondary school tuition, it’s worth paying attention. Cities on the Prairies did well, says Zoocasa. Calgary, with an average price of $543,820 in April 2022, is now at $663,496, a gain of $119,676; Edmonton with an average price of $377,742 in March 2023, is now at $461,393, up $83,651; Saskatoon’s average price in April 2023 was $344,398 and is now $420,343, an increase of $75,945; Regina’s average price was $307,318 in March 2023 and now sits at $362,405, up $55,087; And Winnipeg, with the average price going from $353,891 in March 2023 to $424,765 in April 2025, an increase of $70,874. *All average prices from the Canadian Real Estate Association
