New Listings Rise – Home Sales Fall in May
See below for full details on the St. John’s and province-wide housing market for April 2026 with comparative numbers for April 2025
Sales:
There were 410 home units sold through the MLS® System of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of REALTORS® in May 2026. This was a large decline of 20.2% (104 units) from the 514 units sold in May 2025.
Home sales were 14.1% below the five-year average and 1.7% below the 10-year average for the month of May.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 1,683 units over the first five months of the year, down 13.2% from the same period in 2025.
May Statistics For St. John’s Only
Residential activity in St. John’s posted a notable decline of 26.3% on a year-over-year basis in May, while activity in the rest of the province posted a sharp decrease of 17.2%.
Single detached home sales in St. John’s were down substantially by 45% from levels recorded in May 2025.
Average Price:
The average price of homes sold in May 2026 was a record $374,876, a gain of 11% from May 2025
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $354,718, up by 6.6% from the first five months of 2025.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)* tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures.
See the end of the post for an explanation of the HPI.
The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $349,900 in May 2026, a sizable gain of 11.3% compared to May 2025.
The benchmark price for single-family homes was $352,700, increasing by 11.3% on a year-over-year basis in May. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $330,300, a gain of 13.4% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price (condos) was $268,000, up by 6% from year-ago levels.
April Statistics For St. John’s Only
The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price for homes in St. John’s was $414,200 in May 2026, increasing by 11.1% compared to May 2025.
The benchmark price for single-family homes in St. John’s was $433,200, a gain of 11.3% on a year-over-year basis in May. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $324,300, up by 14.2% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment (basically condos) price was $267,500, an increase of 6.1% from year-ago levels.
New Listings:
There were 1,108 new residential listings in May 2026 a sizable gain of 13.4% from May 2025.
New listings were 3.6% above the five-year average and 3.4% below the 10-year average for the month of May
Active Listings:
Active residential listings numbered 2,399 units on the market at the end of May, a decline of 21.3% from the end of May 2025.
Active listings haven’t been this low in the month of May in more than two decades.
Active listings were 23% below the five-year average and 40.6% below the 10-year average for the month of May.
Months of Inventory:
There were 5.9 months of inventory* at the end of May 2026, unchanged from the 5.9 months recorded at the end of May 2025 but below the long-run average of 10.9 months for this time of year.
*The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
Month-Over-Month Comparisons For 2026
| Month | Sales | Average Price | New Listings | Number of Active Listings | Months of Inventory at Month End* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 288 | $348,366 | 524 | 1688 | 5.8 |
| February | 272 | $332,983 | 449 | 1665 | 6.1 |
| March | 357 | $352,854 | 617 | 1724 | 4.8 |
| April | 357 | $355,067 | 778 | 1934 | 5.4 |
| May | 410 | $374,876 | 1,108 | 2,399 | 5.9 |
*Months of Inventory at the end of each month is calculated by dividing the number of active listings at the end of each month by the number of sales during the month.
This post has been brought to you by:
Gar Mouland, CPA
Canadian Commercial Network of Realtors® (CCN)
Broker/Owner/Operator
Outlier NL Realty
(709) 728-2212
https://www.outliernlrealty.com/
Where great service and great savings happily coexist!
How much is your residential property worth?
How much is your commercial property/business worth?
Reach out to me at any time for an absolutely free consultation on any aspect of the residential and/or the commercial real estate market.
It Pays to be Informed!
Understanding the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)*
*The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) is one of the most reliable tools for tracking changes in home prices over time. Unlike average or median sale prices, which can fluctuate sharply from month to month, the HPI provides a clearer picture of true market trends.
It tracks price changes for major housing types, including single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments. Prices are measured relative to a base period, making it easy to see how values have risen or fallen over time.
Average and median prices can be misleading because they are heavily influenced by the types of homes sold in a given month.
For example, a rise in luxury home sales can push the average price higher even if typical home values remain unchanged. The MLS® HPI avoids this issue by comparing similar homes over time — an approach often described as an “apples-to-apples” comparison.
Rather than focusing solely on sale prices, the HPI measures how buyers value individual home features.
These include features such as the number of rooms and bathrooms, square footage, lot size, age of the property, and construction details like flooring, roofing, and foundation type. Because these characteristics change gradually, the index produces more stable and meaningful results.