The U.S. provides a convenient market for Canadian buyers seeking a warmer climate, whether as vacation homes or for a permanent residence. But Canadian Redfin users searching for a home are showing signs of lessened interest in buying American, according to a new report from the company.
In May 2025, 26.4% fewer Canadian Redfin users were searching for property in the U.S. than in May 2024. Redfin notes that the total users searching for homes declined year-over-year as well, but by a much smaller margin.
The report attributes this shift as part of growing negative feelings toward the United States among Canadians. Leger 360, a leading Canadian market research firm, found that 59% of Canadians are less likely to visit the U.S. than they were in 2024.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has made repeated efforts to introduce higher tariffs on Canadian imports, which economists predict would likely increase costs for consumers in both countries on taxed items. Redfin found that the drop in Canadian users searching for U.S. homes began to pick up in February 2025, when Trump first announced his initial tariff policy, and there was a particularly large drop in April after the administration’s global tariff policy announcement.
As Redfin notes, the Canadian dollar has also been showing recent signs of weakening, leaving Canadian buyers disadvantaged against high-priced U.S. real estate.
Regional breakdown
Warm southern metro areas in the U.S. that have traditionally attracted Canadian second homebuyers—such as Florida and Sun Belt metro areas—posted consistent declines year over year:
- Miami, Florida (30% drop)
- Orlando, Florida (29.6% drop)
- Phoenix, Arizona (23.6% drop)
- Riverside, California (23.3% drop)
The Redfin report quoted some of Redfin’s own premier agents, including Heather Mahmood-Corley (based in Phoenix) and Marsha McMahon-Jones (based in Palm Springs), who anecdotally confirmed they are seeing less interest from Canadian buyers. McMahon-Jones says she believes Canadian buyers are waiting for U.S.-Canada relations to potentially improve.
Each of the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. posted less interest from Canadian Redfin users, with two exceptions where interest actually increased: Indianapolis, Indiana (51.3%), and Austin, Texas (15.6%).
Metro areas that saw the steepest declines in interest from Canadian Redfin users were primarily large Midwestern cities:
- Houston, Texas (55.2% drop)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (53% drop)
- Chicago, Illinois (47% drop)
- Cincinnati, Ohio (45.8% drop)
- Kansas City, Missouri (44.3% drop)
There was not a strong geographic correlation to the U.S. metro areas that saw the smallest declines in interest from Canadian buyers:
- Cleveland, Ohio (0.9% drop)
- Baltimore, Maryland (4.6% drop)
- Jacksonville, Florida (7% drop)
- Seattle, Washington (9.1% drop)
- Charlotte, North Carolina (9.5% drop)
For the full Redfin report, click here.
