Canadian Home Sales Continue to Climb in November: CREA

In November, home sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS Systems rose again, building on October’s surprise jump.

Sales were up 2.8 per cent in November compared to October, and now stand a cumulative 18.4 per cent above where they were in May, just before the first interest rate cut in early June.

CREA noted that the November increase was driven by gains in Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Greater Toronto and Montreal, as well as by some double-digit sales increases in smaller cities in Alberta and Ontario.

“Not only were sales up again, but with market conditions now starting to tighten up, November also saw prices move materially higher at the national level for the first time in almost a year and a half,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist. “Normally we might expect this market rebound to take a pause before resuming in the spring; however, the Bank of Canada’s latest 50-basis point cut together with a loosening of mortgage rules could mean a more active winter market than normal.”

From October to November 2024, the National Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) rose 0.6 per cent, which is the largest month-over-month increase since last July.

New listings edged down 0.5 per cent month-over-month in November, building on a larger 3 per cent decline in October.

With sales also rising in November, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 59.2 per cent, which is up from 57.3 per cent in October.

Between April and September of 2024, the measure had been in the 52 per cent to 53 per cent range. 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.

“October and November marked the start of the long-awaited rebound in resale housing activity, with the combination of lower borrowing costs and more properties to choose from coaxing buyers off the sidelines,” said James Mabey, CREA chair.

CREA noted that there were roughly 160,000 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS Systems at the end of November 2024, up 8.9 per cent from a year earlier but still below the long-term average for that time of the year of roughly 178,000 listings.

There were 3.7 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of November 2024, down from 3.8 months at the end of October and the lowest level in 14 months. The long-term average is 5.1 months of inventory, with a seller’s market being below about 3.6 months and a buyer’s market being above 6.5 months.

The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS HPI was 1.2 per cent below November 2023, the smallest decline since last April. The non-seasonally adjusted national average home price was $694,411 in November 2024, up 7.4 per cent from November 2023.