Months of inventory
Also called months of supply, MOI
Months of inventory is the number of homes for sale divided by the number sold in the month: how many months it would take to sell everything on the market at the current pace if nothing new were listed. Also called months of supply.
Formula: active listings ÷ sales in the month
By the HousingPortal.ca team · Data: each board's latest report · Updated
How it is read
The usual rule across Canada is that under four months of inventory favours sellers, four to six months is balanced and over six favours buyers. CREA compares each market with its own long-run average instead, because a normal level differs from one city to the next: Toronto has run on two to three months for most of the last decade, while a slower market can sit at six for years without prices falling.
The Quebec boards (QPAREB) read it on their own scale: under 8 months favours sellers and over 10 favours buyers, with a 12-month average rather than one month's figure. Their pages here use those thresholds.
How the boards publish it
TRREB prints a 12-month trend for the GTA and each of its areas. The Ottawa and Quebec boards print it for the month or as a 12-month average; Greater Vancouver publishes the inverse, the sales-to-active-listings ratio, which reads the same supply against demand the other way round (20% of listings sold in a month is five months of inventory).
Months of inventory in each market now
Across the 10 markets whose boards publish it, it runs from 2.3 in Quebec City (favours sellers, under 4 months) to 6.1 in Nova Scotia (favours buyers, over 6 months).
| Market | Figure | Reading | Note | Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Toronto Area | 4.6 | balanced, 4 to 6 months | 12-month trend | September 2026 |
| Waterloo Region | 3.8 | favours sellers, under 4 months | How long the homes for sale would last at the current pace of sales | September 2026 |
| Hamilton | 4.8 | balanced, 4 to 6 months | How long the homes for sale would last at the current pace of sales | September 2026 |
| Burlington | 3.6 | favours sellers, under 4 months | How long the homes for sale would last at the current pace of sales | September 2026 |
| Ottawa | 4.8 | balanced, 4 to 6 months | Homes for sale at month end divided by the month's sales | September 2026 |
| Montreal | 5.3 | balanced, 4 to 6 months | 12-month average. Under 8 favours sellers, over 10 buyers | September 2026 |
| Quebec City | 2.3 | favours sellers, under 4 months | 12-month average. Under 8 favours sellers, over 10 buyers | September 2026 |
| Gatineau | 4.4 | balanced, 4 to 6 months | 12-month average. Under 8 favours sellers, over 10 buyers | Q2 2026 |
| Nova Scotia | 6.1 | favours buyers, over 6 months | How long the homes for sale would last at the current pace of sales (5.0 a year ago) | September 2026 |
| Calgary | 3.93 | favours sellers, under 4 months | How long the homes for sale would last at this pace of sales | September 2026 |
Each market's latest report, as each board publishes them; the market pages have the area-by-area figures. Markets whose board does not publish this measure are not listed.
Months of inventory: Quick Answers
What is a healthy number of months of inventory?
Four to six months is the balanced range most boards cite: enough choice for buyers without homes sitting unsold. Below four, sellers hold the advantage and prices tend to rise faster than inflation; above six, buyers do. A market's own history matters as much as the rule of thumb: what counts as a lot of inventory in Toronto would be tight in a slower city.
How do months of inventory differ from the sales-to-new-listings ratio?
Months of inventory measure the stock of unsold homes against sales; the sales-to-new-listings ratio measures the flow of new listings against sales. They usually agree, but can part ways: a market with few new listings but a large backlog of old ones has a high sales-to-new-listings ratio and many months of inventory at the same time.
Related terms and pages
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