Canadian home sales set all-time record

OTTAWA—Statistics released Nov. 15 by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales have already set a new annual record in 2021.

Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems were up 8.6 per cent between September and October 2021, marking the largest month-over-month increase since July 2020.

Sales were up month over month in about three-quarters of all local markets, and in all major cities.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions in October 2021 was down 11.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis from the record for that month set last year. That said, it was still the second-highest ever October sales figure by a sizeable margin.

On a year-to-date basis, 581,275 residential properties traded hands via Canadian MLS Systems from January to October 2021, surpassing the annual record of 552,423 sales for all of 2020.

“After a summer where it looked like housing markets might be calming down a bit, October’s numbers suggest we might be moving back towards what we saw this spring, with regards to current market demand and supply conditions,” said Cliff Stevenson, chair of CREA, in a statement. “That said, one month of data is not a trend, so we’ll be watching how the balance of this memorable year plays out closely.”

The number of newly listed homes rose by 3.2 per cent in October compared to September, driven by gains in about 70 per cent of local markets.

With sales up by more than new listings in October, the sales-to-new listings ratio tightened again to 79.5 per cent compared to 75.5 per cent in September and 73.5 per cent in August. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.8 per cent.

There were just 1.9 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of October 2021, down almost half a month from three months earlier and back in line with the all-time lows recorded in February and March of this year. The long-term average for this measure is more than five months.

Ontario saw year-over-year price growth closing in on 30 per cent in October with the GTA surging forward. Greater Montreal’s year-over-year price growth remains at a little over 20 per cent, while Quebec City is now at 13 per cent.