The number of home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems increased 5.5% on a month-over-month basis in May 2026, according to the latest report released Tuesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
“The national sales increase from April to May was broad-based but driven disproportionately by Ontario, suggesting the HST rebate on new builds may have only briefly drawn the attention of buyers away from the existing home market,” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist. “While it was just the first month in 2026 to see any meaningful upward momentum in headline demand, under the surface conditions have been improving for some time. Sellers’ and buyers’ expectations are increasingly aligned, as evidenced by tightening sale-to-list price ratios and shorter periods between listing and sale dates. As a result, prices have largely stabilized following some softness earlier in the year.”
May Highlights:
- National home sales jumped 5.5% month-over-month.
- Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 5.1% below May 2025.
- The number of newly listed properties edged down 1% on a month-over-month basis.
- The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) inched down by 0.1% month-over-month and was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.
- The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale price was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis in May 2026.
New listings fell back by 1% on a month-over-month basis in May 2026. Combined with the jump in sales in May, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 49.2% compared to 46.2% in April. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.8%, with readings roughly between 45% and 65% generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, said CREA.
“Like the weather in many parts of Canada this year, the spring market appears to have been delayed by a month or so, but the May numbers left little doubt that activity is now picking up,” said Garry Bhaura, CREA Chair. “The handoff from May into June is typically the busiest time of the year, so we now have a strengthening market happening at the most active time of the year.”
CREA said there were just over 200,000 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS Systems on a non-seasonally adjusted basis at the end of May 2026, unchanged from a year earlier and 2.8% below the long-term average for that time of the year.
“There were 4.8 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of May 2026, down from 5.1 months in February, March, and April. This remains very close to the long-term average for the measure of five months. Based on one standard deviation above and below that long-term average, a seller’s market would be below 3.6 months, and a buyer’s market would be above 6.4 months,” it said.
The National Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) edged down 0.1% on a month-over-month basis in May. Aside from April, this was the smallest decline since January 2025. This trend of prices stabilizing aligns with sale-to-list price ratios that have been tightening up and days on market that have been edging lower in recent months. Price stabilization
has long been an important milestone necessary for buyers to eventually start re-entering the market in larger numbers, it added.
The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS HPI was down 4.1% compared to May 2025, recording the smallest year-over-year decline so far in 2026, said CREA.
The non-seasonally adjusted national average home price was $702,079 in May 2026, up 1.5% from the same month last year. It was the highest monthly national average home price in two years and the first time the measure has tipped above the $700,000 mark in 23 months, it said.
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Entrepreneur. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 and 2024 as one of the top business journalists in the world by PR News. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024, 2025 and 2026.
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