There was another surprising jump in home sales in January.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reports a 3.7% increase over December, and a 22% increase compared to a year earlier. (December 2023 sales were up nearly 9.0% from November and up nearly 4.0% from December of 2022.)
But, as CREA points out, January’s jump is largely based on very low sales numbers last January. Several market watchers are reminding us that winter sales figures tend to be variable, making it difficult to forecast trends. Several believe that the relatively mild winter in many of the country’s big markets has encouraged buyers.
Easing prices, falling fixed mortgage rates and hopes for interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada also seem to be bringing people back into the market.
“These trends suggest a market that is starting to turn a corner but is still working through the weakness of the last two years," said CREA's Senior Economist Shaun Cathcart.
The number of new listings rose 1.5% in January, over December.
The National Average Home Price is up 7.6% compared to last January, at $659,395. CREA’s preferred measure, The Aggregate Composite Home Price Index, rose 0.4%.
Canada Mortgage and Housing reports housing starts fell 10% in January compared to December. The decline was led by a 11% slowdown in starts in urban areas, in particular a 14% drop in starts of multi-unit dwellings. New construction of single-detached urban homes saw a very modest increase of 0.08%.