Canadian Home Sales Climb Again in July

The number of home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems climbed a further 0.5% on a month-over-month basis in July 2026, marking a fourth consecutive monthly gain.

“At the national level, July’s housing data was a carbon copy of the June numbers, with home sales edging up a little further, listings down, and prices remaining stable,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist. “The more interesting story over the last few
months has been below the surface of the headline national numbers, where markets across the country are generally moving back towards balance. That’s true on the Prairies, in Quebec, and on the East Coast, where a majority of sellers’ markets have been steadily cooling off over the past year. More recently, it’s also been true of the markets in B.C.’s
Lower Mainland and Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe, where formerly buyers’ or borderline buyers’ markets have largely shifted back into balanced market territory.”

July Highlights:

• National home sales edged up 0.5% month-over-month.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 5.3% below July 2025.
• The number of newly listed properties declined 1.6% on a month-over-month basis.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) edged up 0.1% month-over-month and was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.
• The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale price was up 0.2% on a year-over-year basis in July 2026.

New listings declined by a further 1.6% on a month-over-month basis in July 2026, marking the third drop in a row.

Combined with the small increase in sales recorded in June, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 51.3% in July. This is converging on the long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio of 54.7%. Readings roughly between 45% and 65% are generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions.

“The ongoing shift towards a more normal balance between supply and demand in so many markets across Canada is good news for buyers, whether that means not having to worry about your new home falling in value, or not feeling pressured to make a decision due to competing offers,” said Garry Bhaura, CREA Chair. “No matter where you are in Canada, more moderate housing market conditions can be expected to continue to bring buyers off the sidelines going forward. If you are among that group, or if you are thinking about selling a property in a more normal market, the first step is to get in touch with a REALTOR® in your area.”

There were 205,388 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS® Systems at the end of July 2026, up just 0.6% from a year earlier and just 1.5% above the long-term average for that time of the year. Overall supply has been sliding sideways and is very close to average levels for over a year now.

There were 4.7 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of July 2026, the lowest level so far in 2026 and slightly below the long-term average for the measure of 5 months. Based on one standard deviation above and below that long-term average, a seller’s market would be below 3.6 months, and a buyer’s market would be above 6.4 months.

With the exceptions of Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador which are still borderline sellers’ markets, other provinces have seen their months of inventory converging towards long-term averages in recent months. Notably, even Ontario’s months of inventory measure was only about a half standard deviation above average in July after having been in a buyers’ market condition for the first four
months of 2026.

The National Composite MLS® HPI edged up 0.1% from June to July, marking the first increase in the national measure since November 2024.

The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS® HPI was down 3.3% compared to June 2025. Year-over-year declines have been shrinking since January, with the July 2026 reading marking the smallest decrease since October 2025.

The non-seasonally adjusted national average home price was $674,819 in July 2026, edging up 0.2% from the same month last year.

Source: CREA