Canadian Housing Activity Perks Up in June: CREA

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revealed that 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.

 

According to CREA, national home sales climbed 3.7 per cent month-over-month in June. Actual monthly activity came in 9.4 per cent below June 2023.

CREA noted that the number of newly listed properties rose 1.5 per cent month-over-month.The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) edged up 0.1 per cent month-over-month but was down 3.4 per cent year-over-year.

The actual national average sale price posted a 1.6 per cent year-over-year decrease in June, according to CREA.

Home sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS Systems climbed 3.7 per cent between May and June 2024.

“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.”

According to CREA, at the end of June 2024, there were about 180,000 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS Systems, up 26 per cent from a year earlier but still below historical averages of around 200,000 for this time of the year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, CREA noted that the end-of-June supply number was only up 0.5 per cent from the end of May, suggesting the national inventory buildup may be slowing down.

New listings posted a 1.5 per cent month-over-month increase in June, led by the Greater Toronto Area and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.

According to CREA, 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 per cent compared to 52.8 per cent in May. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 55 per cent, with a sales-to-new listings ratio between 45 per cent and 65 per cent generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, noted CREA.

“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.”

According to CREA, 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. CREA also noted that it was the first time that the number of months of inventory has fallen month-over-month in 2024.

The National Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) rose up 0.1 per cent from May to June. While this is a small increase, CREA said 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, according to CREA. The exceptions remain Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon, and Montreal and Quebec City to a lesser extent, where prices have steadily moved higher since the beginning of last year.

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, noted CREA.

The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS HPI stood 3.4 per cent below June 2023. According to CREA, this mostly reflects how prices took off last April, May, June, and July, and is something that has not been repeated in 2024.

The actual national average home price was $696,179 in June 2024, noted CREA, down 1.6 per cent from June 2023.