After a few years of steady price increases, property prices in many areas of Canada hit a record high in 2022. Since then, many parts of Canada have seen prices fall. However, there are still areas where prices keep climbing. 

In this article, we explore the real estate statistics across Canada. We will also look at the current trends in the housing market and what is predicted to happen to the price of real estate in Canada in 2024.

Real Estate Statistics for Canadians

  • The average house price in Canada was 2% higher in October 2023 compared to October 2022.
  • Newfoundland & Labrador has the cheapest average house price, while British Columbia is the most expensive province.
  • Toronto, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia have the most expensive real estate markets.
  • The cities of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; Saguenay, Quebec; and Saint John, New Brunswick, have some of the cheapest real estate in Canada.
  • New Brunswick saw the biggest rise in property prices between October 2022 and October 2023 at 12%. The only province that saw prices fall was Newfoundland and Labrador by 2%.
  • The number of houses sold increased by 5% between October 2022 and October 2023. 
  • House prices were up by 0.17% from September 2023 to October 2023. 

Real Estate Terms

Before we get into the statistics, there are some terms we will refer to throughout the article, that some people might not be familiar with. These terms are explained below.

Median Price: This is the price in the middle when all the property sales from a given period have been arranged from the lowest to the highest. Half of the properties during that period will have sold for less and the other half for more the the median price.

Average Price: We get the average price by adding together all the sales and then dividing the number by the total amount of sales. The average price is not always the most accurate measure since, for example, just one or two very expensive house sales will raise the average price.

Benchmark Price: This can be considered a typical sale price for a type of property in an area because the price is based on criteria that are commonly found in similar properties within the area. Estate agents use benchmark prices when predicting a sales price for a property.

MLS: An abbreviation for the Multiple Listings Service. It is a database that lists properties for sale in a given area and is used by real estate agents to find properties for potential buyers and to guide purchase offer negotiations. It is recognized as the most reliable and comprehensive data on real estate in Canada.

HPI: The Home Price Index is provided by the MLS and provides a clearer picture of market trends than median or average prices. It takes into account the type of homes sold and measures the rate of house price changes over time.

The average house price in Canada

The house prices in Canada reached an all-time high in February 2022 when the average home price was $816,720. Based on the data from WOWA Canada, the prices have since fallen and in October 2023, the average price had fallen to $656 625. However, WOWA reports that the average price was 2% higher than the year before. 

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), house prices rose by 1.8% year-on-year. CREA also reports that the number of new listings declined by 2.3% between September and October 2023.

However, the national average house price is often skewed because of the large and expensive markets in places such as the Greater Toronto Area and Greater Vancouver, which also have the most active markets in Canada. If those two areas are taken out of the equation, the national average price is more than $110,000 lower.

What are the average house prices across the different provinces and territories?

The average price varies greatly across Canada from under £300,000 in the cheapest provinces to close to a million dollars in the most expensive provinces.

We have listed the average prices in the Canadian provinces and territories in the table below. Note that there is no data for Nunavut. However, a report by CBC News from January 2022 shows that prices in Iqaluit, the territory’s capital rose sharply during 2021.

Province/Territory

Average price

Newfoundland & Labrador

$281,525

Saskatchewan

$296,251

New Brunswick

$299,508

Manitoba

$344,478

Prince Edward Island

$380,961

Nova Scotia

$419,717

Northwest Territories

$422,787

Alberta

$430,000

Quebec

$466,319

Yukon

$590,000

Ontario

$855,990

British Columbia

$968,786

The cities with the most expensive real estate

Since British Columbia and Ontario have the most expensive real estate among the provinces and territories, it is not surprising to find the most expensive cities within these two provinces. In October 2023, the average home cost $1,299,503 in Vancouver and $1,125,928 in Toronto. Other cities where the average prices are around the one million mark include Hamilton in Ontario and Victoria in British Columbia. 

What has been pushing the prices up in Canada until the last few months when the prices began to fall in most provinces and territories? The main reason has been the lack of supply to meet the growing demand. Many municipalities are trying to address this by building new homes to meet the needs of the residents and to stem the exponential price increases in some areas.

The cities with the cheapest real estate

It is still possible to find cheaper real estate in Canada if you are willing to look outside the most popular areas. Listings from Point2Homes show that some of the most affordable property markets in Canada are in Saint John, New Brunswick, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and Saguenay, Quebec.

In Trois-Rivieres, an average home will cost only $160,000. while in Saguenay the average price is $213,000. In Saint John, the average price of homes sold in October 2023 was $298,141.

A closer look at real estate statistics in different parts of Canada

Ontario

In Ontario, the average home price increased by 0.5% from September 2023 to October 2023 and was up by 3% since October 2023. 

Maritime Provinces

The Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia continued to outperform the rest of the country with the biggest increases in benchmark and average prices. In a year, the average house price in New Brunswick increased by 12% and in Nova Scotia by 8%. In Prince Edward Island the prices have stagnated and there was no change recorded year-on-year.

Newfoundland & Labrador

The prices in Newfoundland & Labrador fell between October 2022 and October 2023. In a year, the average price fell by 2% in the province to $281,525 in October 2023. It seems that prices are still falling in Newfoundland and Labrador as prices in October were down 3% compared to September. 

The Prairie Provinces

The three Prairie Provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have all seen the average property prices go up compared to 2022. Alberta’s house prices increased by 6% year-on-year. Saskatchewan and Manitoba saw smaller price increases at 4% and 2%, respectively. 

British Columbia

In British Columbia, the average house price increased from $931,525 in October 2022 to $968,786 in October 2023. This represents an increase of 4%. The average house prices increased only by 0.2% between September and October, which could indicate that the housing market is slowing down.

Quebec

House prices in Quebec have increased by 5% on average in a year. In October 2022, the average home cost was $444,113 compared to $466,3019 in October 2023. However, the October average house price was down by 2.2% from September. This was the second biggest drop among the provinces. 

The Territories

Both Yukon and the Northwest Territories have seen their average year-on-year house prices go up. The prices were up by 8% in Yukon and 7% in the Northwest Territories. It was recently reported that house prices in Whitehorse had climbed over $700.000. There is no data listed for Nunavut.

How many homes were sold in October 2023?

The number of property transactions for the whole of Canada was 35,410 in October. This was 5% more than were sold the year before but 6% less than were sold in September. 

What is predicted to happen to real estate in Canada in 2024?

Looking ahead to what the next year is likely to look like for the Canadian property market, most experts expect the housing market to show gradual signs of recovery. According to CREA national home sales may increase by 13.9% in 2024. House prices are also expected to increase. The estimate is a 4.7% increase, which would mean the average home in Canada will cost $702,000. 

However, some challenges could affect Canada’s housing market in 2024, including the worsening supply of new homes. The number of new listings has been falling in Canada and is at a 20-year low. This has created an imbalance between supply and demand, which could push prices considerably higher.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Newfoundland & Labrador has the cheapest average house price in Canada.

The cities of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; Saguenay, Quebec; and Saint John, New Brunswick, have some of the cheapest real estate in Canada.

The average house price has fallen by almost $60,000 from June 2022 to $760,600 in June 2023. 

New Brunswick saw the biggest rise in property prices between June 2022 and June 2023 at 7%. Prices fell the most in Prince Edward Island where they fell by 9%. 

British Columbia is the most expensive province for homes in Canada.

Sources