Hopes for a real estate rebound are facing a “fresh” setback with house prices flat again in August and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) warning that higher borrowing costs could weigh on the market.
According to CREA’s latest report, the national benchmark home price was $657,400 in August, unchanged from July and three months earlier. Prices were down three per cent year over year and 0.6 per cent from six months ago.
Home sales slipped 0.7 per cent from July on a seasonally adjusted basis and were 6.9 per cent below 2025. New listings, meanwhile, rose 3.3 per cent month over month, reversing three consecutive monthly declines over the summer.
CREA said the increase in supply, alongside the small decline in sales, pushed the national sales-to-new-listings ratio down to 49.1 per cent from 51.1 per cent in July. There were 4.8 months of inventory nationally, unchanged for a fourth consecutive month and just below the long-term average of five months.
The association found sales activity has been largely unchanged since May, while prices have moved little since spring –– the longest stretch of price stability since 2024.
Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist, said the economic environment has become more challenging, pointing to higher bond yields that have already pushed fixed mortgage rates up and renewed expectations of a possible Bank of Canada rate hike.
“This fresh round of incoming headwinds is expected to dampen the prospects for further housing market momentum heading into 2027,” Cathcart said.
• Email: shcampbell@postmedia.com