Sellers come out of the woodwork after the rate cuts, buyers not so much. But in Montreal, prices jump. Edmonton & Winnipeg play with all-time highs.
It continues despite rate cuts: Prices of single-family homes in Canada fell in September from August (-0.5%) and year-over-year (-2.8%), the sixth year-over-year decline in a row, and were down 16.7% from the peak in March 2022 (actual prices, not seasonally adjusted).
Condo prices fell 1.0% in September from August, and 4.0% year-over-year, and were down 11.4% from their peak, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) today. Condo prices got hit hard particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, falling 2.0% for the month and 7.2% year-over-year, thereby carving out a new three-year low.
Home sales in Canada rose by 1.9% in September from August, seasonally adjusted. Year-over-year, not seasonally adjusted, home sales rose 6.9%. Compared to the 10-year average for this time of the year, sales were still down 7%.
So the rate cuts by the Bank of Canada - and the lower prices? - nudged buyers a little, off the stalled levels before. But what the rate cuts really did was bring out the sellers.
New listings jumped 4.9% in September from August, with "a burst of new supply" at the beginning of September, "as sellers listed properties in larger than normal numbers for the first weeks of the month," CREA said today. "Gains were broad-based, with most of the country's biggest markets topping the list." New listings have been increasing all year.
Total listings jumped by 16.8% from a year ago, to 185,427 homes in September. Supply ticked down to 4.1 months of sales at the current pace of sales, from 4.2 months in August.
All prices below are prices in Canadian dollars, not seasonally adjusted.
Greater Toronto Area, single-family MLS Home Price Benchmark Index:
New listings jumped by 9.8% in September, according to TREBB, and inventory continued to surge, pushing active listings to the highest level since 2009, as the rate cuts have brought out the sellers.
New listings of condos jumped by 9.9%, pushing up active listings further, as the sellers are coming out of the woodwork:
Hamilton-Burlington metro single family benchmark price (part of the "Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area"):
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