Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems rebounded by a record 57% in May 2020; although, that is as a percentage of the weakest month of April on record. As such, the May gain constituted a return of only a third of the activity lost between February and April, and the May 2020 sales figure was still the lowest level for that month since the mid-1990s.
Real estate transactions were up on a m-o-m basis across the country.
Among Canada’s largest markets, sales rose by 53% in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), 92% in Montreal, 32% in Greater Vancouver, 21% in the Fraser Valley, 69% in Calgary, 47% in Edmonton, 46% in Winnipeg, 69% in Hamilton-Burlington and 31% in Ottawa.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity was still running 40% below last May, marking the lowest May sales figure since 1996. Y-o-y declines in the larger markets were clustered in the 40%-50% range.
There were 5.6 months of Canadian new homes for sale inventory on a national basis at the end of May 2020, down from 9 months in Apr
- National home sales rose 57% on a month-over-month (m-o-m) basis in May.
- That said, actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was still down 39.8% year-over-year (y-o-y).
- The number of newly listed properties was up 69% from April to May.
- However, actual (not seasonally adjusted) new supply was still 38.1% below May 2019.
- The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) was unchanged (-0.08%) m-o-m and was still up 5.3% y-o-y.
- The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale price fell 2.6% y-o-y.