Canada’s housing market has gone into winter hibernation early this year, the group that represents realtors said Wednesday, with new data for October showing fewer sales, fewer new listings, and selling prices mostly flat.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Wednesday that the number of homes that sold on the group’s Multiple Listing Service fell by 5.6 per cent in October from the previous month’s level.
There were fewer homes changing hands and even fewer new listings being put up for sale in the first place. New listings slipped by 2.3 per cent during the month. That’s the first decline since March.
“We’re only in November, but it appears many would-be home buyers have already gone into hibernation,” CREA president Larry Cerqua said in a press release. “October numbers also revealed some sellers may be shelving their plans until next spring.”
WATCH | Signs of a real estate slowdown are everywhere:
Canadian real estate going into hibernation, CREA numbers suggest
1 day ago
Duration 1:59
Featured VideoThe latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association show the typical winter market slowdown is happening earlier than usual.
October isn’t typically a strong month for the housing market, as under normal circumstances, activity is slow in the cold months to start the year, picks up in the spring and summer, declines through the fall and then into the winter again.
But even by that seasonal trend, October was a chillier than usual month for the housing market. The volume of home sales during the month is 17 per cent below the level seen before the pandemic, TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi said.
“Unsurprisingly, high interest rates continued to weigh on home sales last month,” Sondhi said, adding that on a per capita basis, “sales are hanging around levels last recorded over 20 years ago.”
The sales slowdown was mostly driven by activity in Canada’s biggest cities, CREA said, as activity fell by 10 per cent in Vancouver, by 13 per cent in Victoria, by nine per cent in Calgary, by 11 per cent in Ottawa, by five per cent in Toronto and by 10 per cent in Montreal.
Activity was down almost across the board, but on the price side of things, the numbers were mostly flat, depending on the comparison.
Prices flat
The average selling price of a home that sold during the month was $656,625. That’s slightly ahead of September’s level and up by 1.8 per cent from where it was a year ago.
But CREA says the average number can be misleading because it is easily skewed by big markets like Toronto and Vancouver. It trumpets a different metric, the House Price Index, as a better gauge because it adjusts for the type and number of homes sold.
The HPI declined by 0.8 per cent during the month, but it’s still up by 1.1 per cent compared to where it was a year ago.
Sondhi says it’s a buyer’s market in Ontario and British Columbia especially, with the sales-to-new-listing ratio in the former now at its lowest point since 2008.
“This strongly suggests that prices will head lower in these two markets over the next several months, dragging down the nation-wide average price,” he said. “That said, some relief should come next year as the Bank of Canada begins cutting rates.”
Prices are on the whole moving sideways, but there are pockets of the country where they are moving decisively higher.
Calgary continues to have a hot housing market, as the region’s comparatively strong economy is drawing in people from across the country, boosting demand for housing.
Benchmark prices in Calgary have risen by 9.4 per cent in the past year, to its highest level on record. “A record high, you say?” Bank of Montreal economist Robert Kavcic said. “Yes, but still less than half the price of Toronto for a single-family home — hence why people continue to move there.”
Atlantic Canada is also seeing record inflows of people because of the comparative affordability, and that’s pushing up prices for housing.
Most of the region is still in sellers’ market territory, while prices are at or near cycle highs. Benchmark prices are up by 12 per cent in Moncton in the past year, and by more than nine per cent in Halifax.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
