Weekly Real Estate News
Home sales across Canada during July were down by 0.7% month-over-month but were also up 4.8% from one year earlier, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Monthly changes in sales activity were generally small in the larger urban centers, with declines in Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area mostly offset by gains in Edmonton and Hamilton-Burlington.
By the end of July, there were roughly 183,450 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS Systems, up 22.7% from one year earlier but approximately 10% below the historical averages of more than 200,000 recorded around this time of the year. On a month-over-month basis, new listings posted a slight 0.9% uptick.
There were 4.2 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of July 2024, unchanged from the end of June. The long-term average is about five months of inventory.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $667,317 in July, virtually unchanged (-0.2%) from one year before. The National Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) inched up 0.2% month-over-month, the second and the largest gain in the last year.
“While it wasn’t apparent in the July housing data from across Canada, the stage is increasingly being set for the return of a more active housing market,” said James Mabey, chairman of CREA. “At this point, many markets have a healthier amount of choice for buyers than has been the case in recent years, but the days of the slower and more relaxed house hunting experience may be somewhat numbered.”
