Canadian Homes Sales Decline 0.7% Month-Over-Month in July, Canadian Real Estate Association Reports

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported on Tuesday (8-15-23) that home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems posted a 0.7% month-over-month decline in July, after showing signs of stabilizing since May. While sales were up in more than half of all local markets in July, a decline in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) tipped the national figures slightly negative. Sales were also down in the Fraser Valley, which together with the GTA offset gains in Montreal, Edmonton, and Calgary.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions in July was 8.7% above July 2022—the largest year-over-year national sales increase in more than two years.

The number of newly listed homes was up 5.6% on a month-over-month basis, building on gains of 7.9% in May and 5.9% in June. As a result, new listings have gone from a 20-year low in March to being closer to, but still below, average mid-summer levels. With new listings outperforming sales in July, the sales-to-new listings ratio declined to 59.2%, compared to 63% in June and 68% in April. That said, the measure remains above the long-term average for the measure of 55.2%.

On a national basis at the end of July, there was 3.2 months of inventory. This is up slightly from 3.1 months recorded in both May and June. While this was the first month-over-month increase since January, this measure is still a full month below where it began the year and is almost two months below the long-term average for this measure of approximately 5 months.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) climbed 1.1% from June to July—a larger than normal increase for a single month but only about half as large as the gains recorded in April, May, and June. CREA notes that is this in line with sales having levelled off as new listings have been recovering. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $668,754 (CAD) in July, up 6.3% year-over-year.