July sees slight dip in home sales

In July, national home sales experienced a marginal adjustment, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The month-over-month change in home sales remained modest, displaying a minimal decline of 0.7% between June and July 2023. This trend indicated a stabilization in activity since May. Although more than half of local markets witnessed increased sales in July, a decrease in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) resulted in a minor negative shift in the national figure. The Fraser Valley also saw a dip in sales, which, when combined with the GTA's decline, countered gains observed in Montreal, Edmonton, and Calgary.

Comparing to July 2022, the actual number of transactions in July 2023 (not seasonally adjusted) showed a rise of 8.7%. This marked the most substantial year-over-year national sales growth in over two years.

"July continued along the same trend we've seen emerge in recent months, with sales levelling off and new listings returning in more normal numbers," said Larry Cerqua, chair at CREA. "This has been giving buyers more choice and balancing the market, which as of July was also slowing the rate of price growth."

Newly listed homes experienced a 5.6% increase on a month-over-month basis in July. After gradual improvements of 2.8% in April, 7.9% in May, and 5.9% in June, new listings have progressed from a 20-year low in March to approach average levels by mid-summer. With new listings surpassing sales in July, the sales-to-new listings ratio eased from 63% in June to 59.2%. This shift followed a previous peak of 68% in April, while still maintaining a value above the long-term average of 55.2%.

As of July 2023, a national inventory of 3.2 months was recorded, slightly higher than the 3.1 months in both May and June. Although this marked the first month-over-month increase since January, this measure remained a full month below its starting point in early 2023 and nearly two months under the long-term average of approximately five months.