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Canada’s housing market posted a modest rebound in May, with home sales rising 3.6% from April, marking the first national monthly increase in more than six months, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported.
The gain was led by activity in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary and Ottawa. But on a year-over-year basis, actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales were still down 4.3%, underscoring the broader slowdown that has persisted since late 2023.
"May 2025 not only saw home sales move higher at the national level for the first time in more than six months, but prices at the national level also stopped falling,” said CREA Senior Economist Shaun Cathcart. "It’s only one month of data, and one car doesn’t make a parade, but there is a sense that maybe the expected turnaround in housing activity this year was just delayed for a few months by the initial tariff chaos and uncertainty.”
Listings and sales move together, keeping conditions loose
New listings rose 3.1% in May, mirroring the increase in sales.
That left the national sales-to-new listings ratio essentially unchanged at 47%, still below the long-term average of 54.9%.
There were 4.9 months of inventory nationally at the end of May, also near the long-term average.
Price trends diverge depending on the measure
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $691,299 in May, down 1.8% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, the MLS Home Price Index (HPI), which adjusts for compositional changes in the types of homes sold, was down 0.2% month-over-month and 3.5% year-over-year.
TD Economist Rishi Sondhi noted that while average prices moved up on the month, it may reflect a greater share of expensive homes being sold.
"Notably, a much weaker performance in the home price index than the average home price measure suggests the presence of compositional forces on prices (i.e., more expensive housing sold relatively well last month, lifting average prices).”
He added: "May’s sales gain (alongside the modest upward revision to April) suggests that pent-up demand built up earlier in the year is beginning to creep back into the market. However, the economic backdrop remains uncertain, and we’d need to see more gains before confidently declaring that buyer sentiment is out of the doldrums.”
May market snapshot
- Home sales: +3.6% month-over-month, -4.3% year-over-year
- New listings: +3.1% month-over-month
- Sales-to-new listings ratio: 47% (long-term average: 54.9%)
- MLS HPI: -0.2% m/m, -3.5% y/y
- Average home price: $691,299 (-1.8% y/y)
- Months of inventory: 4.9 (near long-term average)
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