Canadian Home Sales Edge Up To End 2022

National home sales edged up 1.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis in December 2022 with actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity at 39.1 per cent below December 2021, says the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). “In 2022, we saw one of the biggest single-year shifts on record in Canadian housing activity from record highs last winter to just below the 10-year average to end the year,” say Jill Oudil, chair of CREA. “That said, the market's adjustment to higher rates may be mostly in the rear-view mirror at this point. That could start to bring buyers back off the sidelines this spring.” CREA says demand for housing continues to grow and supply remains the biggest issue across the entire spectrum. The number of newly listed homes dropped 6.4 per cent on a month-over-month basis in December, led by declines in British Columbia and Quebec. It was among the lowest December new supply levels on record. With new listings down on a month-over-month basis, the sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 54.4 per cent compared to 50.2 per cent posted in November. The long-term average for this measure is 55.1 per cent. There were 4.2 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of December. This is close to where this measure was in the months leading up to the initial COVID-19 lockdowns and still nearly a full month below its long-term average.