CANADA
Home prices in Canada continue to rise at a steady pace, with the national average hitting $656,625 in October 2023. This represents a 2% year-over-year increase and a 0.2% month-over-month increase. While this growth is moderate, it defies many expectations of a decrease in home prices and shows that the Canadian real estate market remains strong and resilient.
Breaking down these numbers by province, we can see that British Columbia continues to have the highest average home price at $968,786. This represents a 4% year-over-year increase and a 0.2% month-over-month increase. Neighboring Alberta also saw strong growth, with an average home price of $455,891, a 6% year-over-year increase and a 0.2% month-over-month increase.
In the Atlantic provinces, Nova Scotia saw the largest monthly increase in average home prices at $419,717, an 8% year-over-year increase and a 4.5% month-over-month increase. New Brunswick also experienced strong growth with an average home price of $299,508, a 12% year-over-year increase and a 4% month-over-month increase, the largest annual increase in prices.
Home prices remain higher year-over-year in nine out of ten Canadian provinces, while home prices are down monthly in four out of ten provinces. Let’s dive deeper into the latest Canada housing market update for October 2023.
Provincial housing markets across Canada are tightening, with the sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) of seven provinces increasing compared to last month. The SNLR measures the balance between supply and demand in the housing market. A ratio above 60% is considered a seller’s market, while below 40% is a buyer’s market.
The provinces with the highest SNLRs in October 2023 were Alberta, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick, indicating strong demand for housing and a seller’s market. Saskatchewan saw a significant increase in its SNLR this month, jumping from 64% to 74%.
Ontario was the only province with a buyer’s market in October 2023, as its SNLR sits at 37%. This is slightly higher than last month’s 34%, but still indicates a buyer’s market. In contrast, Quebec has a balanced market with an SNLR of 52%, showing a fairly even balance between supply and demand.
Nova Scotia also continues to have a seller’s market with an SNLR of 64%, indicating strong demand for housing in the province. PEI saw a slight decrease in its SNLR from 58% to 55%, moving it into a more balanced market. Newfoundland was the only other province to see a decline in its SNLR this month.
Overall, the Canadian real estate market remains resilient with steady growth in home prices and tightening markets across most provinces.
Canada
Canada’s average home price in October 2023 was $656,625, a slight 0.2% increase from last month and up by 2% year-over-year. While that’s still 10% lower than what it was in May 2023, home prices remain resilient even as some housing markets flip into buyer’s market territory.
Nationally, there were 35,410 home sales during the month of October 2023, a 5% increase year-over-year. Canada’s MLS Benchmark Price, which measures the price of a “typical” home in Canada, was $745,800 in October 2023.
Falling home prices, in some areas of the country, can be attributed to Bank of Canada rate hikes in both June and July 2023, resulting in a cumulative rise in interest rates by 50 basis points. This made borrowing more expensive, including the cost of mortgages, which reduces demand for homes as affordability decreases. Decreasing demand due to higher interest rates has a downward impact on Canadian home prices. While there wasn’t another rate hike in October 2023, WOWA’s interest rate forecast predicts that there won’t be any relief from current high rates until early 2024.
For the month of October 2023, Canada’s sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) was 49.5%. The current 49.5% SNLR signals a balanced market, which means that there is balanced competition among buyers for properties. Canada’s SNLR has been decreasing on a monthly basis since April 2023, when it reached over 67%. However, most provinces are seeing an increase in SNLRs this month.
