Canadian housing market shows early signs of recovery in April 2026
Aditi Gupta, Content Specialist
Canadian home sales posted a modest gain in April 2026, rising 0.7% compared to March, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). While activity remains below last year’s levels, the latest data suggests Canada’s housing market may be starting to stabilize after a slow start to the spring season.
Many buyers are still taking a wait-and-see approach. CREA noted that higher mortgage rates and renewed global economic uncertainty continue to weigh on buyer confidence. While some momentum returned toward the end of April and into early May, many households remain hesitant to make large financial decisions in the current environment.
New listings surge as spring inventory enters the market
New listings rose 4.1% month-over-month in April 2026, marking the traditional start of the spring housing market and bringing a fresh wave of inventory onto the market. At the end of April, there were 187,647 properties listed for sale across Canadian MLS® Systems — up 2.2% from a year earlier, though still below long-term historical averages.
Because new supply grew faster than sales, the national sales-to-new listings ratio eased to 45.6%, down from 47.1% in March. This places the market near the lower end of balanced territory, as CREA considers a ratio between 45% and 65% to represent balanced market conditions. For buyers, this generally means there’s enough supply to counter demand, and that, overall, they’ll be less likely to encounter multiple bidding situations, which can drive prices higher.
Inventory levels remain close to balanced market conditions
National inventory levels increased slightly in April as more spring listings entered the market.
Canada ended the month with 5.2 months of inventory, up modestly from February and March and sitting very close to the long-term national average of five months. In practical terms, this suggests the market remains relatively balanced overall.
CREA defines a seller’s market as below 3.6 months of inventory and a buyer’s market as above 6.4 months of inventory. Current inventory conditions give buyers more flexibility compared to the highly competitive markets of recent years, while still preventing a significant shift toward a full buyer’s market nationally.
Home prices continue to stabilize across Canada
Home prices edged slightly lower in April, but the pace of decline continued to slow. The National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) slipped just 0.1% month-over-month, marking the smallest monthly decline since October 2025. On an annual basis, prices were down 4.2% compared to April 2025, representing the smallest year-over-year decline recorded so far in 2026.
The national average home price reached $695,412 in April, up 2.2% from the same month last year. Together, these trends suggest that while affordability challenges remain, pricing conditions may finally be starting to level out after an extended correction period.
Also read:
Aditi Gupta, Content Specialist
Aditi Gupta is a content specialist at Ratehub, with a focus on creating informative content about mortgages.