Canadian national home sales rise nearly 1% in October.
Signs of Improvement in Canadian Housing Activity
Today’s release of October housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed the national housing market bounced back, with sales and prices rising. Buyers benefited from the interest rate cuts this year.
The number of home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems edged up 0.9% on a month-over-month basis in October 2025, marking six monthly gains in the last seven months.
“After a brief pause in September, home sales across Canada picked back up again in October, rejoining the trend in place since April,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist. “With interest rates now almost in stimulative territory, housing markets are expected to continue to become more active heading into 2026, although this is likely to be tempered by ongoing economic uncertainty.”
New Listings
New supply declined 1.4% month over month in October. Combined with an increase in sales activity, the sales-to-new-listings ratio tightened to 52.2% from 51% in September. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.9%, with readings roughly between 45% and 65% generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions.
There were 189,000 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS® Systems at the end of October 2025, up 7.2% from a year earlier but very close to the long-term average for that time of the year.
“As we head into the quiet winter season, we continue to see clues that underlying demand for housing is picking up steam,” said Valérie Paquin, CREA Chair. “All eyes will be on next year’s spring market to see if all that pent-up demand will finally come off the sidelines in a big way.”
There were 4.4 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of October 2025, basically unchanged from July, August, and September and the lowest level since January. The long-term average for this measure of market balance is five months of inventory. 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.
Home Prices
The National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) edged up 0.2% between September and October 2025. The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS® HPI was down 3% compared to October 2024, the smallest year-over-year decline since March.
Bottom Line
Homebuyers are responding to improving fundamentals in the Canadian housing market. Supply has risen as new listings surged until May of this year. Additionally, the national benchmark average price is 3.1% lower than it was a year earlier. That decrease was smaller than in September.
Buyers are gradually nudged off the sidelines by lower interest rates and reduced housing prices. While the Greater Golden Horseshoe’s housing activity was dampened by trade uncertainty and earlier overbuilding, even there, the tides are gradually turning. We can look forward to a more robust spring market.
