Canadian house sales fell in august

Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) Systems in Canada predicted a 1% drop in home sales between July and August of 2022.As the drop in sales caused by higher interest rates continues to get better, a drop-in housing activity this month was the least that could have happened.

The number of regions with declining sales was equal to the number of regions with rising sales. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and a number of other Ontario areas lead the pack in terms of growth. The declines in Halifax–Dartmouth, Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg nullified these gains. The number of actual transactions in August 2022 was 24.7% lower than in August 2021. not accounted for seasonal factors Annually, the fall was smaller than July’s 29.4% drop.

For the first time in August, there were 5.4% fewer homes placed for sale. This continues the 5.9% fall recorded in July, as sellers await the arrival of new buyers before taking action. Montreal was one of the few major markets in which the number of new listings increased between July and August. Due to an increase in sales and a decrease in new listings, the ratio of August sales to new listings increased to 54.5% from 52.5% in July. This was a direct outcome of the rise in sales. In August 2022, the national ratio of new listings to sales was close to its long-term average of 55.1%.

The number of months of available inventory increased to 3.5 in August 2022, up from 3.4 in July. Even while the number of months of inventory is much lower than the long-term average of around five months, which is approximately ten months, it has greatly grown since its all-time low of 1.7 months at the start of 2022. This indicates that it is projected that product supply will continue to rise in the near future. In August 2022, the Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) fell by 1.6%, which is a big drop historically but not as big as the drops in June and July. In previous months, Ontario and, to a lesser extent, British Columbia accounted for the majority of monthly losses; however, Ontario markets contributed the most to the national fall in August.

On the Prairies, it seems that Alberta’s prices have hit their peak. Manitoba was the only province to enjoy a drop, while Saskatchewan’s prices continued to grow. In Quebec, costs have decreased during the last several months. Recent price decreases in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador are comparable to those in the Halifax-Dartmouth metropolitan area. In the meantime, Prince Edward Island’s monthly cost of living is rising substantially. The unadjusted Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI was 7.1% higher in August than the previous year. Since the record-breaking rise of about 30% that occurred six months ago, year-over-year comparisons have been slowly falling. As a result, this was the first rise in the past two years of data to be in the single digits.

The actual (i.e., unadjusted for seasonal changes) national average home price in August 2022 was $637,673, a 3.9% decrease compared to the same month the previous year. The Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto Area, two of the most active and expensive property markets in Canada, have a significant impact on the national median price paid. $114,800 is subtracted from the national median price when these two markets are eliminated.

Source: https://creastats.crea.ca/en-CA/