In areas outside the GTA, homebuyers are wary

Jittery potential buyers in Canada’s real estate market may be more willing to concentrate on house hunting now that the federal election is in the past and the spring selling season is reaching its traditional peak.

Still, in cities around Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe, move-up buyers are rare and first-time purchasers are wary, real estate agents say.

Robert Hogue, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada, says weakening labour markets and U.S. tariffs threatening to strike the province’s economy hard have significantly soured market sentiment.