CANADIAN HOUSING ACTIVITY SEEMS TO BE REMAINING IN A HOLDING PATTERN ON THE HEELS OF THE SECOND INTEREST RATE CUT IN LATE JULY.

  • National home sales increased by 1.3% month -over month in August 2024. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly results came in 2.1% below August 2023.
  • The national number of newly listed properties rose 1.1% month-over-month. At the end of August 2024, there were about 177,450 properties listed on the Canadian MLS system, up 18.8% from a year earlier but still below the historic average of more than 200000 properties for this time of year.
  • The MLS Home Price Index was unchanged month -over-month but was down 3.9% year -over year.
  • The actual national home average sale price was almost unchanged (-0.1%) on a year over year basis in August.
  • With more interest rate cuts expected the stage is set for a return of demand and the first few weeks of September are one of the typical four times in any year that buyers come off the sidelines.

Our source of data is CREA, and they caution 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 differentials between geographical areas.