Canada’s home sales during November were up 2.8% from the prior month and up 26% from one year earlier, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Last month’s sales are now a cumulative 18.4% above where they were in May, just before the Bank of Canada’s first interest rate cut in early June.
The November increase was driven by gains in Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Greater Toronto and Montreal, as well as by some double-digit sales increases in smaller cities across Alberta and Ontario.
The sales spike occurred despite the 0.5% month-over-month drop in newly listed properties – there were 3.7 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of November, down from 3.8 months at the end of October and the lowest level in 14 months.
Last month also saw an actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale price increase of 7.4% on a year-over-year basis – November’s non-seasonally adjusted national average home price was $694,411, while the MLS Home Price Index climbed 0.6% month-over-month but was still down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis.
“Not only were sales up again, but with market conditions now starting to tighten up, November also saw prices move materially higher at the national level for the first time in almost a year and a half,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist. “Normally we might expect this market rebound to take a pause before resuming in the spring; however, the Bank of Canada’s latest 50-basis point cut together with a loosening of mortgage rules could mean a more active winter market than normal.”
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