Canadian Real Estate Prices Fall Faster As Sales Rise With Listings

Canada’s housing market is showing new signs of strain as prices drop more sharply, even while more homes are being sold. According to recent data, the national benchmark price for a typical home fell by 0.7 percent in July, a drop of about $4,700, bringing the average to $693,300. This was the steepest monthly decline since October 2024.

Over the past year, prices are down 3.4 percent compared to a year ago. That is already bad, but compared to the records in March 2022, home prices have fallen a steep 18.6 percent, putting them at the lowest levels since April 2021. The slide shows that the market is struggling to hold onto value across many regions.

Despite this, home sales are seeing modest strength. In July, 47,045 existing homes were sold through MLS systems, up 6.6 percent from the same month last year. That volume is the highest for July in four years, though still somewhat below the levels seen in 2019. So while sales are rising, they are not yet rebounding to pre-pandemic norms.

One force pushing on prices is the flood of new listings. In July, sellers put 88,616 new homes on the market, a 5.9 percent increase over last year. That large number of new listings is crowding the market and increasing competition among sellers. Because supply is swelling faster, it is making downward pressure on prices stronger.

Looking at the balance between sales and listings, the sales-to-new-listings ratio in July came in at 51.9 percent, just slightly up from last year by 0.4 points. That ratio is often used to judge whether a housing market is balanced, and 50 percent is often considered the benchmark of balance. Even so, with prices falling and inventory piling up, the balance is fragile.

What this all suggests is that sellers may soon feel forced to make concessions to attract buyers. Rising sales amid falling prices usually indicates that sellers are lowering prices or offering incentives. But the big question now is whether July’s uptick in sales is just temporary, perhaps a release of delayed buyer demand, or the start of a real recovery. Only time and more data will tell.