Canadian Housing Market Sputters Amid Rising Costs and Economic Uncertainty

Canada's housing market lost further momentum in August as economic uncertainty and rising mortgage costs weighed on buyers.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported a 0.7% drop in home sales from July, extending the weakness in a market that is increasingly being squeezed by higher borrowing costs and uncertainty over the broader economy.

On an annual basis, sales were down 6.9% in August without seasonal adjustment, while the CREA Home Price Index remained unchanged from July but was still 3% below its level a year earlier.

Newly listed properties rose 3.3% from July, snapping a three-month streak of declines and pushing the sales-to-new-listings ratio down to 49.1% from 51.1% in July.