Canadian home sales close out 2023 with ‘surprise’ gains: CREA

The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales rose in December as the average price of a house sold also climbed compared with a year earlier.

The association says December home sales were up 3.7 per cent compared with the same month in 2022, marking the largest year-over-year gain since August.

The actual national average price of a home sold in December was $657,145, up 5.1 per cent from December 2022.

The number of newly listed homes fell 5.1 per cent on a month-over-month basis in December.

CREA says that while December saw a “surprise” in sales numbers to cap the year, the real test of the markets’ resilience will be in the spring, when the Bank of Canada is expected to start cutting its key interest rate.

The association also updated its 2024 housing forecast, with 489,661 residential properties expected to trade hands — a 10.4 per cent increase from 2023 — and the national average home price forecast to climb 2.3 per cent on an annual basis to $694,173 this year.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the British Columbia Real Estate Association says it saw an almost 10 per cent decrease in residential unit sales in 2023 compared to 2022.

The average residential price in the province was $971,144 — a 2.6 per cent decrease from $996,943 in 2022.

“The highest mortgage rates in over 15 years led to the slowest sales in a decade for BC,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “With mortgage rates falling to start the year and the potential for Bank of Canada rate cuts on the horizon, the outlook for 2024 appears much brighter.”

In Greater Vancouver specifically, the average price in 2023 was $1.244 million, a year-over-year of 5.4 per cent, while the Fraser Valley saw a 3.6 year-over-year increase to $964,157.