Canadians dominate online interest in buying homes in the U.S. as boycott thaws

A home for sale in the Miami Shores neighborhood of Miami, Florida, U.S. Photo by Zak Bennett /Bloomberg

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The number of Canadians considering moving to the U.S. has rebounded in the first quarter of 2026, after plunging last year in the wake of President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs.

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According to a new report by Realtor.com, interest in buying homes in the U.S. among Canadians has increased by 3 per cent compared with 2025.

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The real estate website analyzed international views of U.S. for-sale listings to measure this interest, and found that Canadians were the top source of international demand for homes in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for 37.8 per cent of total international traffic. That figure was up from 34.8 per cent for the same period in 2025.

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However, Canadian demand for U.S. homes is yet to return to pre-tariff levels. In the first quarter of 2024, Canadians represented 41.8 per cent of international online traffic to Realtor.com.

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Nevertheless, the rebound suggests Canadians are becoming more open to buying property in the U.S. than they were when Trump’s tariffs were first announced.

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Real estate brokerage and website Redfin saw a steep drop in Canadian searches for U.S. properties last year, beginning in February, when Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports. The biggest drop, 34.2 per cent year-over-year, came in April, coinciding with the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs.

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Phoenix-area realtor Heather Mahmood-Corley told National Post at the time: “All my Canadian clients I had, I sold their homes earlier this year, and they have no interest in buying anything at all. They all left.”

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But now, it seems, the tide is turning.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Canadian buyers dominated international views in the U.S. Sun Belt in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Realtor.com analysis.

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Cape Coral, in Florida, was the most popular location, with 71 per cent of its international demand coming from Canada. It was followed by Naples, FL (70.9 per cent), Phoenix, AZ (66.9 per cent), North Port, FL (66.2 per cent), Tampa, FL (58.8 per cent), and Riverside, CA (56 per cent).

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Those same markets also recorded the largest year-over-year growth in Canadian interest between the first quarters of 2025 and 2026, led by Cape Coral with an increase of 9.2 percentage points.

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And it’s not just U.S. property that’s seeing a slow return from Canadians — more travellers are also crossing Canada’s southern border after a year-long decline in trips to the United States.

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April 2026 data from Statistics Canada found that return trips by Canadians from the U.S. increased 1.4 per cent compared with the same month in 2025. Return trips by automobile rose 5.8 per cent.

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That made April the first month since December 2024 to record a year-over-year increase in overall return trips from the United States.

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And despite the ups and downs, Canadians still make up an overwhelming majority of international home buyers in the U.S., according to Realtor.com.

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Mexico accounted for the second-largest share, at 6.4 percent, followed by the United Kingdom (5.9 per cent), Germany (3.9 per cent) and Australia (3 per cent).

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