What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know
Canada’s housing market showed signs of recovery through the spring and early summer, but that momentum softened in August.
National home resales fell 0.7% month over month, ending a five-month stretch of gains. At the same time, new listings increased 3.3%, giving buyers more choice and pushing the national sales-to-new-listings ratio down to 49%.
The result is a market that appears to be rebalancing rather than rapidly shifting in either direction. Prices have also become less negative on a year-over-year basis, suggesting that the decline seen over the past several years may be losing momentum.
August brought a pause to the recovery
The August numbers were softer than the trend seen earlier in the year.
Home resales declined 0.7% from July on a seasonally adjusted basis. New listings, meanwhile, rose 3.3%. That combination means sellers became somewhat more active just as buyers pulled back.
The sales-to-new-listings ratio fell to 49%. A ratio around this level is generally considered balanced, meaning neither buyers nor sellers have an overwhelming advantage nationally.
Month-over-month percentage change in home resales and new listings across selected Canadian markets.
Source: August 2026 market snapshot, using Canadian Real Estate Association data reported in the September 2026 housing analysis.
Prices are still down—but the decline is slowing
The national MLS Home Price Index was essentially unchanged from July.
On an annual basis, however, the composite index was 3.0% below August 2025. While that remains a decline, it represents a slowing in the pace of annual price deterioration compared with earlier in the year.
That distinction is important.
A market doesn’t need prices to rise immediately for conditions to improve. A stabilization in prices, combined with a more balanced relationship between buyers and sellers, can be an early stage of a broader recovery.
Year-over-year change in the MLS Home Price Index for selected Canadian markets.
Source: August 2026 market snapshot, using Canadian Real Estate Association data reported in the September 2026 housing analysis.
Regional markets are telling very different stories
One of the clearest features of Canada’s housing market right now is the gap between regions.
Vancouver recorded a notable increase in resales in August, with monthly transactions moving above 2,000 for the first time in nine months. Prices, however, remained below year-ago levels, although the pace of decline has moderated.
Toronto continued to experience softer conditions. Resales declined 1.3% from July and prices remained 4.5% below their level a year earlier.
Ottawa also saw a significant monthly decline in resales, but its annual home-price change moved into positive territory, with the MLS Home Price Index up 1.0% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Montreal remained one of the stronger markets from a price perspective, with annual price growth of 2.2%.
The Prairies also showed mixed results. Calgary and Edmonton both remained slightly below their year-ago price levels, although Edmonton’s resale activity increased modestly in August.
More listings are giving buyers additional choice
The increase in listings is another important part of the August picture.
Nationally, new listings were up 3.3% from July, although they remained below year-ago levels. That has helped prevent inventories from building too quickly while allowing supply and demand to move toward better balance.
For buyers, that means more choice in some markets without the kind of widespread oversupply that can put significant downward pressure on prices.
For sellers, the message is more nuanced: buyers have alternatives, so pricing and property condition can matter more than they did in a highly competitive market.
What happens next?
The August slowdown doesn’t necessarily signal the end of the housing-market recovery.
Instead, the latest data point to a market that remains sensitive to economic uncertainty. Trade tensions and broader economic concerns appear to have affected buyer confidence, while encouraging some sellers to bring properties to market.
The underlying market dynamics are nevertheless becoming more balanced:
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Sales: down 0.7% nationally in August.
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New listings: up 3.3% month over month.
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Sales-to-new-listings ratio: 49%.
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National home prices: down 3.0% year over year.
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Regional performance: increasingly divergent.
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Market direction: gradual rebalancing rather than a sharp turnaround.
The bigger takeaway is that Canada’s housing market isn’t moving as one market. Toronto and Vancouver continue to face different conditions from Montreal, Ottawa and several Prairie markets.
The bottom line
August was a reminder that Canada’s housing recovery is unlikely to follow a straight line.
After five consecutive months of improving resale activity, the national market took a step back. Yet prices were relatively stable from July, annual declines continued to moderate, and the balance between buyers and sellers remained close to neutral.
For anyone watching the Canadian housing market, the regional numbers may now be more important than the national headline. Some markets are already showing signs of stabilization, while others continue to work through weaker demand and elevated inventory.
Rather than a dramatic turning point, August looks like another chapter in a slow and uneven adjustment.
Data and analysis current to August 2026; market conditions can change quickly. The figures above are based on Canadian Real Estate Association data presented in the September 15, 2026 housing-market analysis.