Canadian housing sales slip in August but RBC hails the fundamentals
Inventory held at just under 200,000 properties nationally, in line with the historical average for August and up only 1.4 per cent year-over-year, per CREA’s September 15, 2026 release. Months of inventory remained at 4.8 – unchanged for a fourth consecutive month and slightly below the long-term average of five months.
The National Composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) was flat month-over-month, with the non-seasonally adjusted reading sitting 3 per cent below August 2025. That year-over-year gap, however, represents the smallest annual decline recorded since October 2025, according to CREA, a signal Battaglia flagged as evidence of continued deceleration in price weakness. The non-seasonally adjusted national average sale price came in at $668,219 in August 2026, up 0.6 per cent from a year earlier.
RBC’s regional read
RBC’s analysis highlights a market that is becoming increasingly fragmented at the regional level – a factor with direct implications for advisors working with clients who hold real estate assets across different provinces.
Vancouver, which RBC identifies as one of the nation’s softest markets, saw resales edge up in August and cross the 2,000-unit threshold for the first time in nine months, even as prices continued their gradual downward drift.
Toronto saw a similar dynamic, with home prices edging marginally lower in August following small gains in June and July. Ottawa offered a more positive data point: annual growth in the MLS HPI crossed into positive territory for the first time in 2026, which RBC described as an important milestone, albeit one that could see further volatility before annual price gains are firmly established.
