National home sales edged higher in October from a month earlier, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), suggesting the downturn that started this spring may be coming to an early end.
Sales rose in about 60 per cent of all local markets in October, although both gains and declines were generally small across the board.
The largest gain, a six-per-cent increase in Greater Vancouver, was offset by a 2.4-per-cent decrease in Montreal.
The number of transactions in October 2022 came in 36 per cent below that same month last year and about 15 per cent below the pre-COVID-19 10-year average for the month.
“October provided another month’s worth of data suggesting the slowdown in Canadian housing markets is winding up,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist. “Sales actually popped up from September to October, and the decline in prices on a month-to-month basis got smaller for the fourth month in a row.”
The number of newly listed homes was up 2.2 per cent month over month in October, with gains in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and B.C.’s Lower Mainland offsetting declines in Montreal and Halifax-Dartmouth. With sales up by a little less than new listings in October, the sales-to-new-listings ratio eased back to 51.6 per cent compared with 52 per cent in September. The long-term average for this measure is 55.1 per cent.
The month-to-month composite home price in Canada in October edged down 1.2 per cent to $644,643. This was the lowest monthly decline since June 2022, but was 9.9 per cent lower than in October 2021.
