Posthaste: Buyers' markets disappear as Canada's home sales heat up
Normally when the days get colder, the housing market goes into hibernation, but apparently not this year.
Spring was in the air yesterday when the Canadian Real Estate Association posted a second month of strong home sale gains, leading some economists to boost their forecasts for the year ahead.
“Normally we might expect this market rebound to take a pause before resuming in the spring; however, the Bank of Canada’s latest 50-basis point cut together with a loosening of mortgage rules could mean a more active winter market than normal,” said CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart said in a news release.
The number of homes sold in November jumped 26 per cent from a year ago, following a 30 per cent gain in October. On a monthly basis, sales rose 2.8 per cent in November and 7.7 per cent in October, putting the housing market back to levels last seen before the pandemic in late 2019.
New listings have fallen over the past two months, tightening market supply and putting the sales-to-new-listings ratio in the upper reaches of balanced territory.
“In fact, no outright buyers’ markets remain among 23 major cities we track,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Home prices are also on the rise, with the national average for November up 7.4 per cent from a year ago to $694,411.
The MLS Home Price Index rose 0.6 per cent in the strongest monthly gain since July 2023 and benchmark prices in Toronto and Vancouver rose at the fastest pace in more than a year, said Robert Hogue, economist at Royal Bank of Canada.
Economists expect sales and prices will continue to rise as borrowing costs ease further and new government policies clear the path for more homebuyers to enter the market.
The new rules, effective
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