Canadian home sales slipped 0.7 per cent from July to August, the fourth straight month of little movement, even as builders kept starting new homes at an annual pace of 229,046 units, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Read side by side, the two August reports describe a market where supply is still arriving while demand waits on the sidelines.
Resale market: flat, with more listings
CREA reported on Sept. 15 that 37,504 homes changed hands in August, down 6.9 per cent from a year earlier on an actual, non-seasonally adjusted basis. The national average sale price was $668,219, up 0.6 per cent from August 2025. The MLS Home Price Index, which tracks typical prices and is less distorted by the mix of homes sold, was unchanged from July and down three per cent from a year ago.
New listings rose 3.3 per cent from July. Total listings stood just under 200,000, up 1.4 per cent from a year earlier. The sales-to-new-listings ratio eased to 49.1 per cent from 51.1 per cent in July, below its long-term average of 54.7 per cent. Months of inventory held at 4.8, unchanged for a fourth consecutive month, against a long-term average of five months.
“Sales activity and price trends were largely unchanged for a fourth consecutive month in August,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist. He added that a “fresh round of incoming headwinds is expected to dampen prospects for further housing market momentum heading into 2027.”
Scott Moulton of Royal LePage Atlantic pointed to the cause. “The thing we’re dealing with is the tariffs and the job insecurity,” he said. “There’s just a buyer pause right now.”
BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic described the national picture as stable. “Canada’s housing market has been stable through the summer, and conditions remain balanced at the national level,” he said, adding that “speculation is gone, investors are absent, and prices are holding flat alongside low and stable volumes.” CP24 reported that southern Ontario and much of British Columbia are still lagging.
Construction: still moving, but slowly easing
CMHC’s August housing starts report, released Sept. 16, put the seasonally adjusted annual rate at 229,046 units, essentially flat from July’s 229,360. The six-month trend was 244,149 units, down 1.3 per cent from July. Actual starts in centres with populations of 10,000 or more totalled 17,691, down two per cent from August 2025, and year-to-date starts of 149,542 are down four per cent from the same period last year.
By market, CMHC said the six-month trend rose six per cent in both Montreal and Vancouver, while Toronto was flat. “Housing starts trended slightly down in August as Quebec and Alberta gains only partially offset declines elsewhere,” said Kevin Hughes, CMHC’s deputy chief economist.
In centres of 50,000 or more, CMHC counted 371,658 units under construction, down 0.4 per cent from the prior month. Completions were 17,550 units, down 11.2 per cent from July, while 142,423 units had approved permits pending, up 0.7 per cent.
Why the rate backdrop matters
The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate at 2.25 per cent on Sept. 2, with Governor Tiff Macklem pointing to risks from a re-escalating U.S. trade war, CTV News reported. CREA’s report noted the central bank has warned of rising inflation risks, and BNN Bloomberg reported that fixed mortgage rates have risen on higher bond yields, with variable-rate hikes viewed by markets as already priced in for 2026.
That combination helps explain the stalemate: buyers face costlier fixed financing and uncertain jobs, while sellers are adding listings rather than cutting prices. Neither the CREA nor the CMHC figures show a sharp break in either direction. They show a market waiting for clarity on tariffs and rates, with the next CREA and CMHC releases offering the first read on whether the pause is lifting.
Sources: CREA (via BNN Bloomberg, Sept. 15, 2026); CMHC housing starts release (Sept. 16, 2026); CP24 (Sept. 15, 2026); CTV News (Sept. 2, 2026).
