Canadian Existing-Home Sales Inch Higher Month-Over-Month in March
Hints of Active Spring Market in March Housing Data
On Friday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported that home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems inched 0.5% higher between February and March. Likewise, the National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) was mostly unchanged, moving 0.3% lower month-over-month.
According to CREA, the actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions was 1.7% above March 2023 levels. That is a much smaller annual gain than the previous two months, although a part of that does reflect a mostly inactive market during the Easter long weekend.
The number of newly listed homes declined 1.6% month-over-month in March. With sales edging higher and new listings declining, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 57.4%. The long-term average for the ratio is 55%. A ratio between 45–65% 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 3.8 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of March—unchanged from February. The long-term average is about 5 months.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price in Canada was $698,530 in March, up 2.0% from a year ago.
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