Canadian home sales down in November: report

Canadian home sales dropped in November according to a Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) report. The numbers showed a 3.3 per cent decrease, erasing the small 1.3 per cent gain seen in October.

November’s numbers rejoined the year’s overall downward trend.

Actual home sales this November also showed a 38.9 per cent fall compared to a year ago. According to CREA, about 60 per cent of all local markets saw lower sales. Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Edmonton, the Greater Toronto Area, and Montreal led those numbers.

The association says newly listed properties also fell to 1.3 per cent.

TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi says the demand continues to decline under the weight of rising interest rates.

“Weaker sales activity should push prices even lower in the near term. However, our forecast calls for average prices to only partially retrace their pre-pandemic gain when they eventually bottom,” Sondhi said.

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CREA’s Chair Jill Oudil says November’s housing numbers were no big surprise.

“While the interest rate situation facing buyers is unlikely to improve over the first half of 2023, it is more likely to remain the same. However, it may also be the first spring market in a number of years where buyers have a shot at not being out-competed for properties that catch their eye,” Oudil said.

The actual national average home price in November was $632,802 which is a 12 per cent decrease from November of last year.

Canada’s major banks have all hiked interest rates as the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate target seven times this year in an effort to control inflation.