Annual home sales down 4.3% in May, but activity up on monthly basis

The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales in May fell 4.3 per cent compared with a year ago, but activity picked up when compared to the previous month.

Home sales rose 3.6 per cent from April, marking the first month-over-month increase at the national level in more than six months.

CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that after buyers sat on the sidelines for much of 2025 so far, there is a sense "maybe the expected turnaround in housing activity this year was just delayed for a few months by the initial tariff chaos and uncertainty."

The association also says new listings rose 3.1 per cent month over month.

There were 201,880 properties listed for sale across Canada at the end of May, up 13.2 per cent from a year earlier, but still five per cent below the long-term average for the month of around 211,500 listings.

The actual national average sale price of a home sold in May was $691,299, down 1.8 per cent from a year ago.

"Canada's housing market remains subdued, but resale conditions in general are not worsening, while construction activity continues to push ahead," wrote Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO.

"At a high level, it appears that a less aggressive tone on the trade front and some political clarity in Canada have eased the stress on buyer confidence, but mortgage rates are still not low enough to improve affordability and/or rekindle investor demand. We continue to see subdued sales and listless prices at the national level."