Canadian Home Sales Post First Increase Since February in October

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported on Tuesday (11-15-22) that home sales recorded over the Canadian MLS® System edged 1.3% higher between September and October 2022. This marks the first monthly increase since February.

The actual, non-seasonally adjusted number of transactions in October came in 36% below October 2021 and approximately 15% below the pre-COVID-19 10-year average for the month of October.

There were 3.8 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of October 2022, up slightly from the 3.7 months reported at the end of September. CREA notes that while the number of months of inventory is still well below the long-term average of nearly five months, it is also well above the all-time low of 1.7 months set at the beginning of 2022.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) edged 1.2% lower on a month-over-month basis in October, which is the smallest decline since June. The non-seasonally adjusted Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) edged 0.8% lower on a year-over-year basis. The actual, non-seasonally adjusted, national average home price was $644,643 (CAD) in October, down 9.9% from October 2021. CREA notes that the national average price is heavily influenced by sales in the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto Area, two of Canada’s most active and expensive markets. Excluding those two markets from the calculation, the national average price is reduced by almost $125,000 to approximately $519,643.