2024-2-1 Newsletter: Muskoka Home Sales, Real Estate Trends

January 2024

National home sales rose 8.7% month-over-month and 3.7% year-over year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), snapping a six-month streak of declines and marking one of the stronger periods of home sales since last spring and summer. Despite the end-of-year boost in activity, annual home sales came in at 443,511 units in 2023, a decline of 11.1% from the previous year. CREA remains optimistic about the market going forward, forecasting residential sales will increase 10.4% annually to about 490,000 units in 2024.

New Listings increased 46.8 percent for Waterfront homes and 5.5 percent for Non-Waterfront homes. Sales decreased 29.4 percent for Waterfront homes but increased 0.5 percent for Non-Waterfront homes. Inventory increased 59.0 percent for Waterfront homes and 36.9 percent for Non-Waterfront homes.

Median Sales Price decreased 2.8 percent to $874,500 for Waterfront homes and 5.2 percent to $616,000 for Non-Waterfront homes. Days on Market increased 4.1 percent for Waterfront homes and 20.8 percent for Non-Waterfront homes. Months Supply of Inventory increased 66.7 percent for Waterfront homes and 44.8 percent for Non-Waterfront homes.

Although sales were up, new listings continued to decline nationwide, sliding 5.1% month-over-month as of last measure, bringing the national sales-to-new listings ratio up from a balanced 50.5% to 57.8%, according to CREA. Inventory was down from the previous month, for a 3.8 months’ supply heading into January. As the market tightens, national sales prices have mostly held steady, with the Aggregate Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) falling 0.8% month-over-month. CREA predicts average home prices will rise 2.3% annually, with Alberta and the East Coast expected to see larger price gains this year.