Interested homebuyers are slowing coming off the sidelines following the rate cut at the beginning of June, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). CREA’s monthly report, which was released on Friday, indicated that national home sales rose in June by 3.7 percent since May.
At the end of last month, there were approximately 180,000 properties listed for sale nationwide — that’s an increase of 26 per cent when compared with the same time last year.
New listings posted a 1.5 per cent month-over-month increase in June, led by the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
“The second half of 2024 is widely expected to see the beginnings of a slow and gradual return of buyers into the housing market,” said James Mabey, chair of CREA. “Those buyers will face a considerably different shopping experience depending on where they are in Canada, from multiple offers in places such as Calgary, to the most inventory to choose from in over a decade in places such as Toronto.”
Price increases across the country include locations such as Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon, and to a lesser extent Montreal and Quebec City, where prices have steadily moved higher since the beginning of last year.
There have been some more recent upward movements in prices in other markets within Ontario, as well, including cottage country, Mississauga, Hamilton–Burlington, Kitchener–Waterloo, Cambridge, and London–St. Thomas.
