Market Watch - Annual Sales Were Up Slightly in 2024 Compared to Last Year.

Borrowing costs were at the top of home buyers' minds in 2024. High interest rates presented significant affordability hurdles and kept home sales well below the norm. The housing market did benefit from substantial Bank of Canada rate cuts in the second half of the year, including two large back-to-back reductions. All else being equal, further rate cuts in 2025 and home prices remaining below their historic peaks should result in improved market conditions over the next 12 months.

Ontario - Annual Sales Were up Slightly Compared to 2023

Toronto,  January 7, 2025 -- The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing market experienced a transitionary year in 2024. Annual sales were up slightly compared to 2023, and new listings were up significantly year-over-year. Buyers benefited from substantial negotiating power on price, especially in the condominium apartment market. Average selling prices in 2024 dipped in comparison to 2023 as a result.

“Borrowing costs were top of mind for home buyers in 2024. High interest rates presented significant affordability hurdles and kept home sales well below the norm. The housing market did benefit from substantial Bank of Canada rate cuts in the second half of the year, including two large back-to-back reductions. All else being equal, further rate cuts in 2025 and home prices remaining below their historic peaks should result in improved market conditions over the next 12 months,” said the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Elechia Barry-Sproule.

Annual 2024 home sales amounted to 67,610 – up by 2.6% from 65,877 sales in 2023. New listings, at 166,121, were up by a greater annual rate of 16.4%. Listings increasing by a greater rate than sales provided buyers with considerable choice in the marketplace, which effectively kept a ceiling on any widespread price growth. The average selling price for all home types combined was $1,117,600 in 2024, representing a decline of less than 1% compared to the 2023 average of $1,126,263. Market conditions were tighter for ground-oriented housing and selling prices held up better in these segments as a result. Price declines were more notable for condo apartments.

“Market conditions varied by market segment in 2024. Sales of single-family homes, including detached houses, increased last year, whereas condo apartment sales were down. Many would-be first-time buyers remained on the sidelines, anticipating more interest rate relief in 2025. The lack of first-time buyers impacted the less-expensive condo segment more so than the single-family segments,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.

“Consumer sentiment, monetary policy, development policy, and issues such as congestion continued to impact the resale, new, and rental housing markets in 2024. Government policies on these fronts need to be reviewed in 2025. TRREB is providing in-depth coverage on all of these topics in our highly anticipated Market Outlook and Year in Review report to be released at the beginning of February,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele.

GTA home sales amounted to 3,359 in December 2024 – down slightly from December 2023. New listings were up over the same period, continuing the trend of a well-supplied market. The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by less than one% year-over-year in December. Over the same period, the average price, at $1,067,186, edged lower.

Ottawa’s MLS® December Market Closes Year with Optimism

Ottawa, January 10, 2025 -- The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) totaled 613 units in December 2024. This was a 7.9% increase from December 2023.  

Home sales were 6.8% below the five-year average and 2.7% below the 10-year average for the month of December.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 13,526 units in December 2024 — an increase of 11.8% from the same period in 2023.

“A year of wait-and-see came to a close with the expected slowdown over the holiday season,” says OREB President Paul Czan. “The latter half of the year brought signs of more favourable market conditions with consecutive interest rate drops, higher insured mortgage limits and extended amortizations. It’s early to assess the impact of these measures. And it’s an uphill battle against affordability and supply issues that persist.”

“Listing activity indicates that sellers anticipate improved conditions could spur more activity from buyers who have been keeping a close eye on the market but hesitant to make moves. Buyers are still limited in their selection of affordable inventory that can meet current demands, which stalls movement. While the improving market conditions are encouraging, the supply needs to be there. Coming political shifts are adding a layer of uncertainty but there is a trending optimism for more increased market activity in the months ahead.”

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. 

The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $645,800 in December 2024, an increase of 3.8% from December 2023.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $729,300, up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis in December.

By comparison, the benchmark price for a townhouse/row unit was $533,200, up 11.3% compared to a year earlier.

The benchmark apartment price was $404,400, down 2.5% from last year.

The average price of homes sold in December 2024 was $663,781, increasing 4.4% from December 2023. The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $679,067, increasing by 1.3% from last year.

The dollar volume of all home sales in December 2024 was $406.9 million, up 12.7% from December 2023. The total dollar volume of all home sales in 2024 was $9.2 billion, up 13.3% from all of 2023.

OREB cautions that the average sale price can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The calculation of the average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold. Prices will vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.  

The number of new listings saw an increase of 13.6% from December 2023. There were 603 new residential listings in December 2024. New listings were 3.5% above the five-year average and 2.7% below the 10-year average for the month of December.

Active residential listings numbered 3,216 units on the market at the end of December 2024, a gain of 58.7% from December 2023. Active listings were 90% above the five-year average and 51.4% above the 10-year average for the month of December.

Months of inventory numbered 5.2 at the end of December 2024, compared to 3.6 in December 2023. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

British Columbia - December Sales Mark a Strong Final Quarter of 2024

Vancouver, BC – January 13, 2025. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that 4,484 residential unit sales were recorded in Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems in December 2024, up 24.7% from December 2023. The average MLS® residential price in BC in December 2024 was up 5.6% at $1,013,556 compared to $960,057 in December 2023.

The total sales dollar volume was $4.5 billion, a 31.7% increase from the same time the previous year. BC MLS® unit sales were 15% lower than the ten-year December average.

 “Home sales closed the year on a much stronger note than in 2023,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “A stronger finish to 2024 pushed home sales just above last year’s total, setting up a strong hand-off to 2025.”

 For all of 2024, BC residential sales dollar volume was up 3.2% to $73.1 billion, compared with year-end 2023. Residential unit sales were up 2.1% year-over-year at 74,434 units, while the average MLS® residential price was also up 1.1% to an average of $982,326 for 2024.

Alberta - 2024 Marks Another Strong Year For Sales And Price Growth

Calgary, Alberta, January 2, 2025 -- The year ended with 1,322 sales in December, a three% decline over last year, but nearly 20% higher than long-term trends. Overall sales in 2024 were just shy of last year’s levels, as gains for higher-priced homes offset pullbacks in the lower price ranges caused by supply challenges.

“Population gains over the past several years have supported sales activity that has outperformed long-term trends. In 2024, sales would likely have been higher if there was more supply choice, especially in the lower price ranges,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, Chief Economist at CREB®. “That being said, we did start to see shifts occurring in the market in the second half of the year as supply levels started to improve for higher priced homes.” 

As of December, there were 2,989 units available in inventory, still below long-term trends for the month but a significant improvement over the lower levels reported last December and levels reported early this year. Improved rental choice and significant gains in new home activity helped boost new listings in the resale market, driving higher inventories in the year's second half. 

While conditions vary depending on price range and property type, more housing options have helped to take some of the pressure off home prices, which stabilized in the second half of the year following steep gains in the spring. Overall, on an annual basis, total residential benchmark prices improved by over seven%. 

As we move into 2025, supply will continue to be a dominant theme. However, how they impact prices will ultimately depend on the type of supply being added and how demand holds up in the face of a changing economic climate. On January 21, CREB® will release its forecast report, highlighting the expectations and risks facing the market in the coming year.

Housing Stats December 2024

Detached - Easing lending rates have likely supported some recent year-over-year gains in detached home sales over the past three months. Improving sales were driven by gains for homes over $600,000, which also reported improvements in new listings. Inventory levels did improve within city limits for detached homes; however, conditions varied across districts. The City Centre, North East and North District all reported relatively balanced conditions over the last quarter of the year, while all other districts continued to struggle with seller market conditions. 

The relatively tight market conditions throughout the year caused prices to rise by nearly 11% in 2024, a faster pace than what was reported in 2023. Much of that growth occurred during spring when supply levels were exceptionally low. Prices grew across all districts, with the strongest growth occurring in the most affordable districts of the North East and East. 

Semi-Detached - Limited supply choice for lower-priced detached homes drove many purchasers toward the semi-detached sector. In 2024, there were 2,355 sales, with an annual gain of 5%. Thanks to gains in new listings relative to sales, inventory levels started to improve, supporting a shift toward more balanced conditions by the fourth quarter. However, much of this shift occurred in the higher-priced City Centre district, where the months of supply averaged three months in the last quarter. 

The annual average benchmark price increased by nearly 11% to $669,042 in 2024. Like detached homes, exceptionally tight conditions throughout the spring caused the pace of price growth to rise over the 7% annual gain reported in 2023. Prices improved across all districts, ranging from an annual gain of under 10% in the City Centre and West to gains exceeding 15% in the North East and East districts.

Row - In 2024, there were 4,647 row home sales, a gain of over 2% compared to last year and the second-highest total on record. The growth in sales was possible thanks to the 18% gain in new listings, most of which occurred for homes priced above $400,000—the gains in new listings relative to sales supported inventory growth in 2024.

By the year's end, supply improvements helped take the pressure off home prices. However, the annual benchmark price rose by 14% as conditions favoured the seller throughout the year. Prices rose across all districts in the city, with the gains ranging from a low of 12% in the city centre to over 20% in the most affordable districts in the North East and East.

 Apartment Condominium - Easing sales in the second half of the year offset earlier gains, causing apartment sales to slow by 4% compared to last year. However, last year was a record high for sales, and the 7,568 transactions this year reflect the second-highest year on record. At the same time, new listings have been on the rise, supporting inventory gains and a shift toward more balanced conditions by the end of the year.

 As more supply became available, we did see some price adjustments in the last quarter of the year. However, the quarterly decline did not offset the strong gains that occurred earlier in the year, and the annual benchmark price rose by 15%. Price growth ranged from a low of 11% in the city centre to over 20% in the North East, East and South districts.