Shannon Marler
BROWSE
PARTNERSScotia Bank: Canadian Home Sales (December 2024): Housing News Flash
1/22/2025
CANADA HOUSING MARKET: YEAR IN REVIEW
Canada’s national housing market slowed down to close 2024. National sales fell 5.8% (sa m/m) in December. New listings continued to pull back, dropping for the third month in a row by 1.7%.
National sales in December of 2024 were 19% higher than the same month in 2023; new listings were 10% higher. Despite December’s decline, sales in the last quarter of the year were 10% above the previous quarter.
The larger decline in sales relative to listings meant the sales-to-new listing ratio, a measure of the market’s tightness relative to historical averages and deviations, eased again after relatively steep increases the prior two months. The ratio stood at 56.9% in December, down from November’s 59.3% and only slightly above the mid-point of the balanced conditions’ zone (estimated between 44.7% and 66.1%). Months of inventory also signalled easing following the national market moves in December, climbing up to 3.9 from November’s recent low of 3.6, but still below its long-term average of 5 months of inventory. However, according to CREA, December’s 3.9 is within the lower range for a balanced market based on one standard deviation, making anything below 3.6 months within buyers’ territory.
The year as a whole recorded 7.3% more sales than in 2023, 11.2% more listings, and 0.9% higher average selling price—the opposite of the 2023 tally that saw all measures below their prior year average. The only exception is the sales-to-new listings ratio, which continued to ease from its 2021 peak of 77.9%. Sales in 2024 were just -0.1% below their 2010–19 annual average, while listings were 2.6% above.