OTTAWA,
ON, July 12, 2024 /CNW/ - Activity in
Canada's housing market saw some
early signs of renewed life in June
2024, following the Bank of Canada's interest rate cut at the beginning of
the month.
"It wasn't a 'blow the doors off' month by any means, but
Canada's housing numbers did perk
up a bit on a month-over-month basis in June following the first
Bank of Canada rate cut," said
Shaun Cathcart, CREA's Senior
Economist. "Year-over-year comparisons don't look great mainly
because of how many buyers were still jumping into the market last
spring, but that's a story about last year. What's happening right
now is that sales were up from May to June, market conditions
tightened for the first time this year, and prices nationally
ticked higher for the first time in 11 months."
Highlights:
- National home sales climbed 3.7% month-over-month in June.
- Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 9.4%
below June 2023.
- The number of newly listed properties rose 1.5%
month-over-month.
- The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) edged up 0.1%
month-over-month but was down 3.4% year-over-year.
- The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale
price posted a 1.6% year-over-year decrease in June.
Home sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS®
Systems climbed 3.7% between May and June
2024.
As of the end of June 2024, there
were about 180,000 properties listed for sale on all Canadian
MLS® Systems, up 26% from a year earlier but still below
historical averages of around 200,000 for this time of the year. On
a seasonally adjusted basis, the end-of-June supply number was only
up 0.5% from the end of May, suggesting the national inventory
buildup may be slowing down.
New listings posted a 1.5% month-over-month increase in June,
led by the Greater Toronto Area
and British Columbia's Lower
Mainland.
As the national increase in new listings was smaller than the
sales gain in June, the national sales-to-new listings ratio
tightened to 53.9% compared to 52.8% in May. The long-term average
for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 55%, with a
sales-to-new listings ratio between 45% and 65% generally
consistent with balanced housing market conditions.
"The second half of 2024 is widely expected to see the
beginnings of a slow and gradual return of buyers into the housing
market," said James Mabey, Chair of
CREA. "Those buyers will face a considerably different shopping
experience depending on where they are in Canada, from multiple offers in places like
Calgary, to the most inventory to
choose from in over a decade in places like Toronto. Wherever you live, or might like to,
you'll need a solid game plan, so contact a REALTOR® in
your area today."
There were 4.2 months of inventory on a national basis at the
end of June 2024, down from 4.3
months at the end of May. It was the first time that the number of
months of inventory has fallen month-over-month in 2024. The
long-term average is about five months of inventory.
The National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)
inched up 0.1% from May to June. While a small increase, it was
noteworthy in that it was the first month-over-month gain in 11
months.
Regionally, prices are still generally sliding sideways across
much of the country. The exceptions remain Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon, and to a lesser extent Montreal and Quebec
City, where prices have steadily moved higher since the
beginning of last year.
That said, there have been some more recent upward movements in
prices in other markets, including across Ontario cottage country, Mississauga, Hamilton-Burlington, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, London-St.
Thomas, and Halifax-
Dartmouth.
The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS®
HPI stood 3.4% below June 2023. This
mostly reflects how prices took off last April, May, June, and July
– something that has not been repeated in 2024.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price
was $696,179 in June 2024, down 1.6% from June 2023.
The next CREA statistics package will be published on
Thursday, August 15,
2024.
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.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of
Canada's largest single-industry
associations, representing more than 160,000 REALTORS®
through 69 real estate boards and associations.
Further information can be found at
http://CREA.ca/statistics.
SOURCE Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)