The spring market is showing no signs of cooling down yet as buyer activity remains intense. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, national home sales were up month-over-month by 5.1% with 54,241 homes trading hands. Annually, sales were up by 1.4%, the first national year-over-year increase since June 2021. 

The major markets in British Columbia and Ontario helped drive those gains, with British Columbia’s sales increasing year-over-year by 10.1% and Ontario’s sales increasing by 10%. Interestingly, the only other province to see year-over-year gains was Prince Edward Island with a 13.4% increase.

“The rebound has been evident for a number of months at this point, but May really drove the point home with year-over-year comparisons for both national sales activity and national average home price back in positive territory. That being said, the degree to which a recovery will be able to play out on the sales side as opposed to the price side will come down to supply, which remains quite low,” said Larry Cerqua, Chair of CREA.

Reluctance of Existing Owners to Enter the Market Keeping Inventory Historically Low

Despite positive gains in the number of newly listed homes, rising by 6.8% nationally, lack of supply is a persistent problem which may hinder continued sales and price increases in the future. Looking at numbers annually, the issue is more apparent. Every area experienced year-over-year declines in new listings except for Saguenay and Trois Rivieres. Kitchener-Waterloo, Saint John, London & St. Thomas, and Halifax-Dartmouth all had year-over-year drops in new listings of more than 20%. 

Months of supply dropped down to 3.1 months, following last month’s decline from 3.9 months in March to 3.3 months in April. However, supply is not equally low for each province. Ontario is suffering from only 2.6 months of supply, while British Columbia has 4.8 months of inventory, Saskatchewan has 5.4 months, and Newfoundland & Labrador has 6.3 months. 

Majority of Local Markets See Monthly Price Gains

With buyer confidence strengthening this year, the national benchmark price has increased for the 4th consecutive month – now at $754,700. Kitchener-Waterloo experienced the largest month-over-month benchmark price increase of 2.4% to $777,500, likely a result of competitive market conditions. Prices also held strong in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa, with prices increasing by 2.2% to $1,164,400 and 1.9% to $645,400 respectively. The only major city to experience a dip in price was Quebec City, decreasing by only 0.2% to $331,000.

Zoocasa(MACKENZIE SCIBETTA, June 15, 2023)