Canada: Two Months of Sales Gains Are Starting to Look like a Trend

Existing homes sales rose 1.4% in March on a seasonally-adjusted basis, following a 1.5% advance in February. This is the first back-to-back monthly gain in sales since the housing market correction began, and the fourth increase in the past six months. British Columbia led the increase in March home sales, posting a relatively broad-based 10% advance. Meanwhile, the average sale price of an existing home rose by 2.0% to $648K in March—the second consecutive monthly gain. The number of new listings fell again in March, dropping 5.8%. When paired with the increase in sales, the sales-to-new listings ratio rose to 63.5 from 59.0 in February, returning the Canadian housing market to sellers’ territory for the first time since April 2022. While two consecutive monthly increases in seasonally-adjusted home sales don’t make a trend, gains in four of the past six months is certainly starting to look like one.