A closely watched set of housing reports will give mortgage professionals and prospective buyers a clearer sense of how the market is tracking heading into the spring season.

After a soft start to the year, attention will turn to fresh data on resale activity and new construction, which will help clarify whether the market is beginning to stabilize or still adjusting under the weight of affordability pressures and economic uncertainty.

Housing data to watch this week

The week’s main release comes Thursday, when the Canadian Real Estate Association publishes its March home sales figures.

The update follows a weaker February, with sales declining on both a monthly and annual basis. That makes the March data an important early read on whether the spring market is seeing a typical seasonal lift, or if buyer demand remains more cautious than usual.

“We await the spring market for a better indication of if the market will tighten up in 2026,” BMO said in a recent housing report, noting that demand has remained subdued through the early part of the year.

At the same time, there have been some early indications that conditions may be stabilizing at the margin. CREA noted that sales were “starting to pick up speed” toward the end of February, suggesting some momentum heading into the spring market, even as broader housing activity remains restrained by cost-of-living pressures and a softer economic backdrop.

Supply will also be a key part of the story, with BMO pointing to the likelihood that both pent-up demand and a backlog of listings could come to market this spring, a combination that will help determine whether conditions tighten or remain relatively balanced.

On Friday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will release its March housing starts data, providing a read on the pace of new construction.

February’s data showed a rebound in starts to an annualized pace above 250,000 units, though much of that strength has been driven by purpose-built rental construction. Activity in the condo segment remains under pressure, particularly in Ontario and British Columbia, where investor demand has weakened and project pipelines are thinning.

In addition to starts, February building permit data released by Statistics Canada on Monday showed residential construction rising by $135.6 million to $8.1 billion, driven by multi-unit gains, while non-residential intentions fell 24% to $4.0 billion, led by a sharp drop in institutional projects. The data offer a forward-looking read on construction as developers reassess new projects amid weaker condo demand and tighter financing conditions.

Written by the team at CMT