The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported on Monday that existing home sales fell 3.1 per cent m-o-m in February to 461,448 units, following an unrevised
3.7 per cent m-o-m jump in January.
Compared to February 2023, sales transactions tumbled 19.7 per cent (on
a not seasonally adjusted basis).
The CREA also revealed that the Canadian home prices, as measured by the
seasonally adjusted Aggregate Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI), were flat m-o-m
in February at $719,400. This marked the end of the five-month streak of declines
that started last September.
Commenting on the latest data, Larry Cerqua, the CREA‘s chair, noted
that there is a feeling that things are about to pick up after two years of
mostly quiet resale housing activity. “At this point, it’s hard to know whether
buyers are going to wait for a signal from the Bank of Canada or whether
they’re just waiting for the spring listings to hit the market,” he added.