Canadian Home Sales Continue To Rise In March As Markets Tighten

Statistics released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales were up on a month-over-month basis in March 2023.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose 1.4% month-over-month in March.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 34.4% below March 2022.
• The number of newly listed properties dropped a further 5.8% month-over-month.
• The MLS^® Home Price Index (HPI) edged up 0.2% month-over-month but was down 15.5% year-over-year.
• The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale price posted a 13.7% year-over-year decline in March.

Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS^® Systems posted a 1.4% increase from February to March 2023. The small rise built on an increase of the same size in February, marking the first back-to-back monthly gains in more than a year. A standout in March was a big bounce in sales in B.C.’s Fraser Valley.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions in March 2023 came in 34.4% below a historically strong March 2022. The March 2023 sales figure was comparable to what was seen for that month in 2018 and 2019. It was also the smallest year-over-year decline since last September.

“As the spring market heats up and it looks as though some buyers are coming off the sidelines, it’s important to remember that the intense market conditions of recent years have not gone anywhere, they’ve just been on pause,” said Jill Oudil, Chair of CREA. “With buyers re-entering a market with historically low supply, homes are not only selling but selling faster. If you’re looking for information and guidance about how to buy or sell a property in this rapidly changing market, contact a REALTOR^® in your area,” continued Oudil.

“The 2023 spring housing market is getting going after a tough 2022, and the green shoots continued to pile up in March,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist. “Sales are trending up, markets have tightened considerably, the Bank of Canada is on hold, and the MLS^® Home Price Index is stabilizing across the country. That said, the supply issue is still with us. New listings are at 20-year lows.”

The number of newly listed homes dropped a further 5.8% on a month-over-month basis in March. New supply is currently at a 20-year low. The monthly decline from February to March was led by a majority of major Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs).

With new listings falling considerably and sales moving higher once again in March, the sales-to-new listings ratio jumped up to 63.5%, the tightest market in a year. The long-term average for this measure is 55.1%.

There were 3.9 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of March 2023, down from 4.1 months at the end of February and the lowest level since last October. It’s also now more than a full month below its long-term average.

The Aggregate Composite MLS^® Home Price Index (HPI) was up 0.2% on a month-over-month basis in March 2023 – the first increase, albeit a small one, since February 2022. The trend of prices stabilizing from February 2023 to March 2023 was very broad-based. With few exceptions, prices are no longer falling across most of the country, although they’re not rising meaningfully anywhere, either.

The Aggregate Composite MLS^® HPI now sits 15.5% below year-ago levels, a smaller decline than in February.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $686,371 in March 2023, down 13.7% from March 2022 but up almost $75,000 from its January 2023 level, resulting from outsized sales increases in the Great Toronto Area (GTA) and B.C. Lower Mainland, two of Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets. Excluding the GTA and Greater Vancouver from the calculation cuts more than $136,000 from the national average price.

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS^® Systems from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS^® Systems are co-operative marketing systems used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.