Canadian Home Sales Showing Signs of Stabilization in June

Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems posted a 1.5% increase between May and June 2023, smaller increase than in April and May. Sales were up in June in a little over half of all local markets, with gains in British Columbia and Alberta offsetting fewer sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions in June 2023 came in 4.7% above June 2022. This was the largest year-over-year national sales increase in two years.

“Housing markets appear to be stabilizing heading into the summer following some big ups and downs over the last year,” said Larry Cerqua, Chair of CREA. “Most importantly, the recovery in new listings over the last few months will give buyers more choice and should help to slow price growth over the second half of the year. If you’re looking for information and guidance about how to buy or sell a property in what’s looking like a more balanced market this summer and fall, contact a REALTOR® in your area,” continued Cerqua.

“With sales levelling off near historically average levels and new listings finally starting to play catch up, housing markets appear to be settling down," said Shaun Cathcart, CREA's Senior Economist. “History suggests the price side of things will respond to this with only a slight lag. Add to that the recent Bank of Canada rate hikes, and we can probably expect price growth to moderate in the months ahead, likely still with some degree of upward pressure, but less than in the last three months.”

The number of newly listed homes was up 5.9% on a month-over-month basis in June. Building on gains of 3.1% in April and 7.6% in May, new listings have gone from a 20-year low in March to closer to (but still below) average heading into the summer.

With new listings outperforming sales in June, the sales-to-new listings ratio eased to 63.6% compared to 66.4% in May and a recent peak of 68.3% in April. That said, the measure remains well above the long-term average for the measure of 55.2%.

There were 3.1 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of June 2023, unchanged from the end of May and down more than a full month from the most recent peak at the end of January. The long-term average for this measure is about five months.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) climbed 2% on a month-over-month basis in June 2023—a large increase for a single month on the heels of similar gains in April and May. It was also once again very broadly based, with a monthly increase in prices between May and June observed in most local markets.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI now sits 4.5% below year-ago levels, the smallest decline since November 2022. (Chart B)

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $709,218 in June 2023, up 6.7% from June 2022. The national average price is heavily impacted by the GTA and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Excluding the GTA and Greater Vancouver from the calculation cuts more than $130,000 from the national average price.

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PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.

About The Canadian Real Estate Association

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry associations, representing more than 160,000 REALTORS® working through 75 real estate boards and associations.

Further information can be found at http://crea.ca/statistics.

For more information, please contact:
Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca