CREA predicts 2023 home sales to edge down 0.5% from 2022 mark

OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association says it expects home sales this year to edge down 0.5 per cent compared with 2022.

In its updated forecast for the year, it also says it expects the average home price to decline 5.9 per cent on an annual basis to $662,103 in 2023.

For 2024, CREA expects home sales to rise by 10.2 per cent as markets continue to return to normal, while it expects the national average home price to gain 3.5 per cent from 2023 to 2024 to around $685,056, below 2022 but back on par with 2021.

The outlook came as CREA reported home sales in December 2022 were down 39.1 per cent compared with a year earlier.

However, the association says national home sales in December 2022 were up 1.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis.