Canadian home sales cool in November

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales were down on a month-over-month basis in November 2016.
Highlights:

• National home sales fell 5.3% from October to November
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity remained 1.6% above levels in November 2015
• The number of newly listed homes edged down 0.4% from October to November
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in November was up 14.4% year-over-year (y-o-y)
• The national average sale price climbed 7.3% y-o-y in November

The number of homes trading hands via Canadian MLS® Systems declined 5.3 percent month-over-month in November 2016. This represents the largest monthly decline in activity since August 2012. As a result, the number of homes changing hands now stands at the lowest level since September 2015.
Activity was down on a month-over-month basis in about two-thirds of all local markets, including Canada’s most active markets.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity held 1.6 percent above where it stood in November 2015 – the smallest year-over-year increase since October 2015. Y-o-y activity gains in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and environs were offset by declines in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
The number of newly listed homes edged down 0.4 percent in November 2016 compared to October. New listings were up from the previous month in close to half of all local markets, led by the GTA but offset by declines in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
The national sales-to-new listings ratio declined to 59.8 percent in November compared to 62.9 percent in October.
Source: Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)