May home sales down 5.1%, but CREA sees positive momentum
Home sales for the month of May were down 5.1 per cent compared to the same time last year according to the Canadian Real Estate Association — though there is "meaningful positive momentum" compared to April, according to one economist.
The organization says home sales in May totalled 47,014. Despite the year-over-year decline, activity was up 5.5 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with April this year.
The national composite housing price index, which measures the average price of typical homes sold, dropped ever-so-slightly by 0.1 per cent on a month-over-month basis.
While that index has been dropping for 18 months, CREA's senior economist Shaun Cathcart says, aside from April, May's drop was the smallest since January 2025.
Cathcart says prices are beginning to stabilize as buyers and sellers increasingly see eye to eye.
"Sellers’ and buyers’ expectations are increasingly aligned, as evidenced by tightening sale-to-list price ratios and shorter periods between listing and sale dates," he said in a news release.
Cathcart added that conditions in the housing market have been improving under the surface for some time.
CREA says new listings for May were down one per cent on a month-over-month basis, while there were just over 200,000 homes listed for sale on MLS systems across the country at the end of last month.
Regionally, home prices were down in B.C., Ontario and Alberta, according to CREA.
cbc.ca
