{
  "id": 1689874,
  "title": "July home sales down 5.3% from last year, but market becoming more balanced: CREA",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/july-home-sales-down-5-3-from-last-year-but-market-becoming-more-1689874",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-18T09:00:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CityNews",
    "slug": "citynews",
    "url": "https://toronto.citynews.ca/2026/08/18/july-home-sales-down-5-3-from-last-year-but-market-becoming-more-balanced-crea/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported that July home sales in Canada declined by 5.3% compared to the previous year, though there was a slight increase month-over-month. Nationally, homes sold totaled 43,578, marking a 5.3% decrease from July 2025. Adjusted for seasonal variations, activity rose by 0.5% compared to June 2026. Shaun Cathcart, CREA's senior economist, noted that while national figures remained consistent with June's numbers, the broader picture revealed markets across Canada moving towards a more balanced state.\n\nCertain provinces, including Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador, were still experiencing seller's markets. In contrast, other regions showed inventory levels nearing their long-term averages. Ontario's months of inventory showed only a slight increase, remaining just half a standard deviation above the average after being in a buyer's market condition for the first four months of 2026.\n\nOn a year-over-year basis, the average sale price of homes in July was $674,819, reflecting a 0.2% increase. The CREA's home price index, which gauges the sale of typical homes, increased by 0.1% month-over-month but dropped by 3.3% compared to the same period last year. Regionally, prices experienced declines in Ontario and British Columbia, while other areas witnessed price gains. CREA indicated a 1.6% month-over-month decrease in new listings, marking the third consecutive decline in this category. As of July, there were 205,388 properties listed for sale across Canada, up 0.6% year-over-year but only 1.5% above the long-term average.",
  "summary": "The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales in July were down compared with a year ago, but edged slightly higher month-over-month.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}