Ontario may be home to some of the most expensive and most competitive cities for real estate in Canada, but the province is actually getting a break when it comes to how fast housing prices are rising, at least compared to elsewhere in the country.

The latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show a "relatively uneventful" February 2024 in the nation's housing market at large, though compared to the same time last year, average prices are up in every single province.

Given how bonkers the ever-more-exorbitant GTA market is known to be, one might think that Ontario would have seen some substantial year-over-year price jumps, even with things being as expensive as they already are.

But, per CREA's charts, the province somehow saw the most meager increase in the price of the typical home in the last year: 1.5 per cent, which far less than the 5.1 per cent jump seen in B.C., 8.4 per cent in Quebec and 3.5 per cent across Canada overall.

On the other end of the spectrum, the mean cost of a home in Alberta shot up 11.9 per cent from February 2023 to last month, and in New Brunswick, it climbed an even worse 12.9 per cent. (The CREA notes that these numbers are based on actual, and not seasonally-adjusted, selling prices.)

Year-over-year changes in the average price of a home in provinces across Canada as of February 2024. Chart from the Canadian Real Estate Association's latest report, released Monday.

Of the Canadian real estate landscape overall, CREA wrote in its report, released Monday, that last month marked the end of a streak of five month-over-month declines that began last fall, as prices remained flat from January to February, though they are up across the board on an annual basis.

Sales activity, though, spiked 3.1 per cent from one month to the next, and was a whopping 19.7 per cent higher this February than last.

“After two years of mostly quiet resale housing activity there’s a feeling that things are about to pick up,” says Larry Cerqua, CREA Chair 👉 https://t.co/ABP2i2Kfbk #CREAstats pic.twitter.com/z0IG6or8u1

— CREA | ACI (@CREA_ACI) March 18, 2024

"It's looking like February may end up being the last relatively uneventful month of the year as far as the 2024 housing story goes... after two years of mostly quiet resale housing activity, there's a feeling that things are about to pick up," the firm's experts added.

"With so much demand having piled up on the sidelines, the story will likely be less about the exact timing of interest rate cuts and more about how many homes come up for sale this year."

Without seasonal adjustments, the price of the standard home in Canada has hit $685,809 and now sits at $873,207 in Ontario specifically.