Canadian Existing-Home Sales Continue to Rise in November

On Monday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported that existing-home sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems rose again in November, building on October’s surprising jump. According to CREA, sales were up 2.8% and now stand a cumulative 18.4% above where they were in May, just prior the first interest rate cut in early June.

The National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 0.6%, the largest month-over-month increase since last July.

New listings edged 0.5% lower month-over-month in November, building on a larger 3% decline in October. With sales also rising in November, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 59.2%, up from 57.3% in October. The measure had been in the 52–53% range between April and September. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 55%, with a sales-to-new listings ratio between 45–65% generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions.

There were 3.7 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of the month, down from 3.8 months in October and the lowest level in 14 months. The long-term average is 5.1 months of inventory, with a seller’s market being below about 3.6 months and a buyer’s market being above 6.5 months, CREA noted.

The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS® HPI stood 1.2% below November 2023, the smallest decline since last April. The non-seasonally adjusted national average home price was $694,411, up 7.4% year-over-year.