So, I asked, what’re they telling you?
“They say they’re sorry,” the Beau Chapeau damsel, decked out in the fancy, ah, chapeau, answered. “And they’re embarrassed. Like, really. Seriously.”
It was a day or two after Donald Trump had tried to steal our lake, layered new tariffs on tens of billions of our stuff and called us all “nasty.”
On Queen Street, I heard the same story everywhere. The Americans were mortified. Apparently, nobody who comes here from the U.S. voted for that guy. Or will admit it.
But they still come. We embrace them. However, America’s making us all worried, tense, apprehensive — especially after our econo-warrior PM became the first and only world leader to stand up to the White House.
Are NOTL houses a casualty of this war?
The latest stats are limp. Home sales across the region have slumped. It takes longer to flog a property. And buyers are paying less.
In Niagara as a whole, prices are lower by five percent from last year, to a benchmark of $597,200. In pricey NOTL, the average sale has been for $40,000 less than last year, and now below the 900 mark.
By the way, listings are piling up as sales weaken. This week on MLS, there are 362 pieces of residential real estate on offer, a whopping 100 of which sit in Old Town and just under 60 in Virgil.
For properties north of $2 million, owners can wait a year (or two) for an offer. In short, it’s not 2022 anymore. Or even 2024. Or anytime pre-Trump.
“Unprecedented times for sure,” says local agent and veteran realtor Doug Widdicombe. “The housing market has slowed considerably. There are still buyers, but they are very keen on value and price.”
Indeed. The ask on some landmark properties has dropped by more than half a million. In one notable case by four times that amount. And still they sit.
“Home prices may have fallen enough to make buyers more comfortable with some economic uncertainty,” says broker Kymberley McKee, “but probably not enough to make them comfortable with the possibility of losing a pay cheque.
“If the Canada-U.S. situation mostly leads to unsettling headlines but employment remains fairly strong, the housing market could continue to slowly regain its footing,” she adds. “But, if it starts translating into meaningful layoffs — particularly in Ontario — buyers could become cautious again pretty quickly.”
“Personally I’m concerned what the impact will be should tariffs remain high,” warns Widdicombe. “Employment reductions will have an impact, especially on the first, second or third-time homebuyers. Not just in buying a home but the cycle of services they normally use. Then it snowballs. Those financially comfortable are concerned for their portfolios if nothing else.”
One drag for those trying to sell is competition. The number of listings in Niagara (well over 3,000 homes) is dwarfed only by last year’s record level.
“Sales activity stepped down compared to last July,” says Sarah Hart, head of the Niagara Association of Realtors. “While new listings were also down, they were still among the highest levels recorded for any July. Overall supply levels remain historically elevated but are unwinding since peaking in mid-2025.”
And this — slagging sales, trade and job worries and a ton of choice in the market — has put buyers in control, agents say. If it’s not perfect, don’t bother showing it.
“The-fixer upper is of less interest to my clientele,” says Widdicombe. “It must be finished — turn-key. I haven’t found prices have hit the point where buyers are buying quicker. They are looking more intently and demanding a better product knowing they can, considering the number of listings on the market.”
The key word? Caution.
Meanwhile, “I’m so sorry” is nice to hear. But we have an ask for the folks from Ohio, Michigan, New York and beyond.
Go home. Vote.
Garth Turner is a NOTL resident, journalist, author, wealth manager and former federal MP and minister. garth@garth.ca
