Home Sales Dip After Months of Steady Growth

Oct 22, 2025

Canadian home sales slumped in September for the first time since April.

The number of properties that changed hands declined 1.7 per cent month-over-month, reports the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The small drop was the result of lower sales activity in Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal, which more than offset gains in the Greater Toronto Area and Winnipeg.

New supply declined 0.8 per cent month-over-month, with just shy of 200,000 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS systems at the end of September.

Year-over-year, this is an increase of 7.5 per cent, but very close to the long-term average for the time of the year.

Combined with a slightly larger drop in sales activity, the sales-to-new listings ratio eased slightly to 50.7 per cent, compared to 51.2 per cent in August.

Months of inventory on a national basis at the end of September was unchanged from July and August, sitting at 4.4 months. However, it’s the lowest level since January.

It was also the best month of September for sales in four years.

“While the trend of rising sales that began earlier this year took a breather in September, activity was still running at the highest level for that month since 2021, and that was true in July and August as well,” says CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart. “With three years of pent-up demand still out there and more normal interest rates finally here, the forecast continues to be for further upward momentum in home sales over the final quarter of the year and into 2026.”

The national composite MLS home price index (HPI) was again almost unchanged between August and September, down 0.1 per cent. Following declines in the first quarter of the year, the national benchmark price has remained mostly stable since April.

The non-seasonally adjusted national composite MLS HPI dipped 3.4 per cent year-over-year. Based on the extent to which prices fell off beginning last fall, year-over-year declines are expected to shrink in the fourth quarter of 2025.