The arrival of colder weather typically brings a slowdown in real estate activity and October was no exception. For the fourth month in a row, national sales were down month-over-month, this time declining by 3.4% according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. This is a bigger drop than last month when national sales were down 1.9% month-over-month but is a slight increase of 0.9% compared to last year.
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“We’re only in November, but it appears many would-be home buyers have already gone into hibernation. The October numbers also revealed some sellers may be shelving their plans until next spring. That said, there are still a lot of people active in the market and looking to get deals done this year,” said Larry Cerqua, Chair of CREA.
Several Major Markets Still Hot with Annual and Monthly Sales Increases
Though overall sales were down in Canada, housing demand is still high in almost half of major markets, especially in Ontario. Kitchener-Waterloo, London & St. Thomas, Hamilton-Burlington, and Niagara Region all experienced month-over-month sales increases while Greater Toronto was nearly unchanged, going from 4,642 sales in September to 4,645 sales in October.
Quebec experienced the greatest sales growth, with a month-over-month increase of 16.8% and a year-over-year increase of 13.9%. Other cities that experienced both a month-over-month increase and a year-over-year increase include Halifax-Dartmouth, Kitchener-Waterloo, London & St. Thomas, Greater Vancouver, Regina, and Winnipeg, with Regina and Kitchener-Waterloo both increasing year-over-year by more than 20%.
Sales eased in most of the Prairies and the West Coast, with Victoria down month-over-month by 17.4%, Edmonton down by 11.9%, and Calgary down by 10.8%. Softening sales largely kept home prices from rising, and every major market besides Calgary, Saskatoon, Quebec and Saint John experienced month-over-month declines.
The largest price declines came from Hamilton-Burlington and Greater Toronto, where prices were down month-over-month by 2.9% and 2.1% respectively. The national average price also dropped for the fourth month in a row to $731,100 in October – still above October 2022 but only by $7000.
New Listings Down in Nearly Every Major Market
Unlike previous months, where falling sales allowed new listings to build up, October’s sales fell by more than the number of new listings resulting in almost every market experiencing a drop in inventory. Nationally, new listings were down month-over-month by 10.5%, though year-over-year this is still up substantially by 16%. This brings the sales-to-new listings ratio down to 49.5% – the first time under 50% this year and an indication that a balanced market is here to stay.
Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, Saint John, and Greater Vancouver all experienced month-over-month drops in new listings of more than 15%. Provincially, months of inventory went largely unchanged, though Ontario did see a slight improvement rising from 2.6 months in September to 2.7 months in October.
If you’re preparing to enter the winter market, whether that’s through buying, selling, or both, it’s important to speak with a local realtor to learn about market conditions in your specific area. If you’re ready, give us a call today to speak with a qualified agent!
