Canadian Existing-Home Sales Decline Month-Over-Month in April, but Listings Increase

On Wednesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported that home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems declined 1.7% between March and April, coming in a little below the 10-year average.

The actual, not seasonally adjusted, number of transactions was up 10.1% year-over-year; however, a significant part of that gain likely reflected the timing of the Easter long weekend.

With sales down and new listings up in April, the national sales-to-new listing ratio eased to 53.4%. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 55%. A sales-to-new listings ratio between 45% and 65% is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings above and below this range indicating sellers’ and buyers’ markets, respectively, CREA said.

There were 4.2 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of April, up from 3.9 months at the end of March and the highest level since the onset of the pandemic. The long-term average is about 5 months of inventory.

The National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) was unchanged from March to April, marking the third consecutive month of mostly stable prices. The actual, not seasonally adjusted, national average home price was $703,446, down 1.8% year-over-year.