At a time of year when sales are typically strong, Canada’s real estate market has cooled significantly, as surging borrowing costs have hampered buyer affordability, weakening demand and pricing out a multitude of buyers.

Nationally, home sales fell 5.6% month-to-month and were down nearly 24% from the same period last year, according to the Canada Real Estate Association (CREA). With sales declining nationwide, housing supply increased 4.1% from the previous month, equal to 3.1 months of inventory, causing the sales-to-new-listings ratio to fall to 51.7%, the lowest level since 2015, according to CREA.