The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reports that home sales in July showed the most significant year-over-year increase in over two years, even though they remained relatively unchanged from June.

In terms of non-seasonally adjusted figures, there was an 8.7% rise from last July with a total of 41,186 homes sold.

Month over month, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the number of sales dropped slightly by 0.7% from June to reach 40,028 units.

More than half of all local markets recorded increased sales for the month.

New listings experienced a slight decrease compared to last year at this time - down by just 0.2% to total 73,215 listings – but rose on a seasonally-adjusted basis by 5.6%, reaching up to 67,636 properties.

“July continued along the same trend we’ve seen emerge in recent months," said Larry Cerqua, CREA's chairperson."Sales are leveling off and new listings are returning in more normal numbers."

In terms of pricing trends for July; The average home price stood at $668754 reflecting a yearly increase by about 6.3%. Month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis, home prices were down two percent from June’s figure settling at $690867.

Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist stated that recent statistics suggest housing markets have begun stabilizing as potential buyers adjust their expectations due to higher interest rates than initially anticipated.

"We’re probably looking at another round of 'back to the sidelines' for some buyers until there’s a higher level of certainty around interest rates going forward," Cathcart noted. 

Article By: Ketki Saxena