National existing home sales continued to drop in September, with the 3.9 per cent decline representing the seventh straight monthly drop. High interest rates and softening economic prospects are making buyers cautious. The decline puts transactions 32 per cent below September 2021 and 19 per cent below the 10-year average of seasonally adjusted monthly sales.
National listings largely stabilized, dropping just 0.8 per cent in September, after a 5 per cent drop in August. The decline put listings 1.4 per cent below their year-ago volume. Potential sellers clearly aren’t panicking and are waiting for the market to stabilize before listing their homes. The supply reduction partially offset the sales decline, limiting the monthly drop in Canada’s average resale price to 1.2 per cent in September after dips in five of the six previous months.
Sales and listings trends were mixed. Transactions dropped in 22 of our 30 markets in September, with nine areas reporting declines of at least 5 per cent. Still, volumes were below a year earlier in 29 areas. Listings declines were less widespread in September, with 15 areas witnessing drops, but they still exceeded year-earlier volumes in 17 jurisdictions. Prevalent sales easing slackened many markets last month; the sales-to-listing ratio fell in 22 areas. We find 22 markets were balanced in September, up from 21 areas in August. Soft listings have helped push Sudbury, Saguenay, Saint John, and Newfoundland and Labrador into a sellers’ state. Buyers’ conditions prevail in four areas. Prices continue to moderate; 16 areas saw month-to-month declines in September, although values remain above year-earlier levels in 22 markets.
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