The average sale price of a Canadian home sat at $626,318 last month, a 12 per cent drop from December 2021.
The Canadian Real Estate Association, comprised of over 150,000 realtors nationwide, dropped new data regarding the country's housing market this morning. Both the number of sales, and sale prices achieved fell significantly from a year earlier.
Sales decreased by a whopping 39 per cent from December 2021, House price averages were at $713,500 at the end of 2021, and reached a peak of $816,720 in February of last year, Bank of Canada's rate hike cycle came soon after.
The CREA explained the average sale price can be somewhat misleading since it is significantly altered by home prices in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. The House Price Index better reflects and serves as a more accurate representation of the country's housing market, as it takes volume and type of housing into account.
The HPI fell 13 per cent from last year's peak price. The provinces of Ontario and British Columbia saw the most serious declines.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says it foresees the average home price to drop by just under 6 per cent to $662,000 in 2023.
The CREA's most recent forecast showcases the number of homes sold in the country.
Even though home prices are expected to drop by almost six per cent in 2023, CREA expects home sales to increase by 10.2 per cent in 2024 as markets continue to their return to normalcy.