Canada’s Average Home Price Hits $816,720, Rising 20% From Last Year

A for sale sign is displayed in front of a house in the Riverdale area of Toronto on Sept. 29, 2021. The Canadian Press/Evan Buhler

Canada’s average home price hit a record high of $816,720 last month, says the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The group, which represents over 150,000 realtors across Canada, said in a March 15 release that sales were up in roughly 60 percent of markets in February, with the largest jumps in Calgary and Edmonton.

CREA attributed the increase in monthly sales activity to the rebound in the number of newly listed homes which climbed by more than 23 percent in February, following a 10.8 percent drop in January. 

“New supply bounced way up in February, which is similar to what we saw play out in 2020 and again in 2021,” said Shaun Cathcart, senior economist for CREA. 

Cathcart said that listings will continue to come out “in big numbers” in the next few months.

“In the short term, expect at least one more month of stronger sales as the majority of those new listings came onto the market near the end of the month so many of the associated sales likely won’t happen until early March," he said. 

“Combined with higher interest rates and higher prices, we could be at a turning point where price growth begins to slow down and inventories finally begin to recover after seven years of declines.”

The $816,720 average home price is an increase of 20.6 percent compared to the same month last year, though CREA said that number is could be misleading as it is heavily influenced by sales in Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area—two of the country’s most expensive housing markets.

If these two markets were excluded, the national average home price in February would be reduced by almost $178,000. 

The CREA said its House Price Index (HPI)—a tool that measures home price levels and trends—also reflects the tight market conditions. That metric increased by a record 3.5 percent on a month-over-month basis in February and was also up by a record 29.2 percent on a year-over-year basis. 

“It’s unclear if this is the beginning of a re-emergence of some of the many would-be sellers who have been dormant for the last two years, or if the supply will fade towards the summer like it did in 2021,” said CREA Chair Cliff Stevenson.