Canadian house sales slowed even further in July

Between June and July 2022, the number of home sales recorded by the Canadian Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) declined by 5.3%. The housing market has decreased for six straight months, but February’s loss was less severe than the aggregate of the losses from the preceding five months. Numerous Canadians have departed major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Calgary, and Edmonton. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales fell by 29.3% between July 2021 and July 2022. In July, there were 5.3% fewer posts than in June. Since the number of new listings has gone down in more than 75% of local real estate markets, including most big cities, it’s clear that there aren’t enough homes for everyone.

Despite a 5.3% decrease in both sales and new listings from June to July, the sales-to-listings ratio remained steady at 51.7%. This marks a considerable reduction compared to the national average of 55.1% before the crisis. National inventories hit a record low of 1.7 months in 2022. By July 2022’s conclusion, the average duration of a government shutdown will be 3.4 months. This is a significant rise in comparison to the previous record low of 1.7 months. The aggregate composite MLS® home price index (HPI) decreased by 1.7% from June to July 2022. July’s decrease was 1.9% lower than June’s. The most recent monthly loss totals are shown in British Columbia and, to a lesser extent, in Ontario.

The cost of living has remained largely consistent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but it has declined in Quebec. The East Coast is seeing a substantial growth in spending, but at a far slower rate than in prior years. In recent months, the Halifax-Dartmouth region’s cost of living has declined, making it less expensive than the rest of the province. The Aggregate Composite (MLS®) HPI rose by 10.9% between July 2018 and July 2017. Even though sales went up 30% from January to February, annual profits are still going down.

In July 2022, the average cost of a house in the United States was $629,971. This was 5% lower than July of the year before. Real estate markets in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto are both competitive and expensive (GTA). significant influence on the nation’s overall expenditures. If San Francisco and New York’s excessive living costs were eliminated from the equation, the national average might drop by $104,000. This number is reliant on market circumstances, much like how the performance of these two markets influences the national average. A rise in loan interest rates, for instance, would result in an immediate decline in sales in nations and regions with higher expenses of living. Consequently, the statistical phenomenon known as Simpson’s Paradox may arise, in which a change in the composition of national sales has a larger influence than anticipated on the overall level of the average price. This variability is expected due to the fact that the national mean price is calculated using data from throughout the nation. As a consequence, although prices fell by 5% nationwide from July 2017 to July 2018, the fall in Ontario was just 0.4%. This meant that the average price in Ontario remained higher than in other regions.

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