Canada’s home sales were down by 4.1% month-over-month in August, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). On a year-over-year basis, sales were up but up 5.3%.
The number of newly listed properties edged up 0.8% month-over-month while the MLS Home Price Index inched up by 0.4% on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis. There were 3.4 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of August, up slightly from 3.2 months in July.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $650,140 in August 2023, up 2.1% from one year earlier. CREA noted that price growth has remained solid in Quebec and the East Coast, followed by British Columbia and the Prairies, while Ontario was described as “a mixed bag, still with some of the bigger increases but also some of the bigger declines.”
“August was the first full month of housing data following the Bank of Canada’s July rate hike, so a dip in activity was expected,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist. “The demand is obviously still there, and it will be back, but as the housing affordability crisis re-emerges as a top policy issue, for now, the slowdown on the buyer side should help keep a lid on prices.”
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