Canada home resale market up 18.5% in year


John Morrissy, Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, September 15, 2009
National Post Canada’s surging resale housing market continued to post gains in August.


OTTAWA -- Canada's resale housing market continues to rally with 42,483 homes trading hands in August, an 18.5% gain from year-ago levels, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday.
Economists warned, however, the market's outperformance in recent months is not likely to go on for long as home prices rise and the market consolidates gains.
On a month-to-month basis, in fact, homes sales dipped slightly to 42,426 units in August from 42,666 in July.
"Canada's housing market has taken its cue more from the Great Houdini than the 'Bear' (economist Noriel) Roubini, fully escaping from the clutches of a potentially lengthy, harsh downturn," said BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Doug Porter.
"Record-low borrowing costs combined with the growing realization that the economic storm is passing have fuelled the remarkable turnaround. However, the gaudy sales growth will be tough to maintain now that prices are moving higher again."
Resale activity rose from year-ago levels in about three quarters of local markets. Year-over-year gains of 117% in Vancouver, 27% in Toronto, 17% in Calgary, and 9% in Montreal contributed most to the national increase in activity.
August marks the third consecutive month in which year-over-year sales rose by more than 15%, CREA said.
Prices also rose, although they were skewed higher by growing demand in Canada's more expensive housing markets. The national average price rose 11.3% from a year ago to $324,779 in August, CREA said.
A market weighted average shows a more modest 5.3% year-over-year rise in average prices.
"On balance, given the recent unbelievable strength in the Canadian housing market, the modest (month-to-month) down-shift in sales in August should not be seen as anything other that a brief respite in what has been a remarkable recovery in the sector," said TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine.
"Even so, we believe that Canadian housing market activity in the coming months will be relatively tepid as the sector consolidates the gains made since January."
Canwest News Service


TABLE ONE:
City Number of unit sales Change year over year
Calgary 2,324 +16.8%
Edmonton 1,673 +8.6%
Halifax-Dartmouth 584 +0.9%
Montreal (CMA) 2,870 +9.3%
Ottawa 1,227 +2%
Saint John 194 -18.1%
Saskatoon 393 +75.4%
Newfoundland and Labrador 472 -12.8%
Toronto 8,042 +27.3%
Greater Vancouver 3,496 +117%
Victoria 723 +47.6%
Winnipeg 1,080 -1.8%
Note: CMA census metropolitan area. Figures for Toronto include data for Mississauga, Brampton, Durham, Orangeville and York. Source:The Canadian Real Estate Association.


TABLE TWO:
City Number of unit sales Change year over year
Calgary $388,725 -0.4%
Edmonton $318,321 -3.3%
Halifax-Dartmouth $231,203 4.1%
Montreal (CMA) $276,243 +5%
Ottawa $315,176 +11.5%
Saint John $166,117 +4.7%
Saskatoon $281,871 +0.9%
Newfoundland and Labrador $211,573 +12.7%
Toronto $387,899 +6.3%
Greater Vancouver $608,032 +9.1%
Victoria $481,279 +6.4%
Winnipeg $207,389 +8.6%
Note: CMA census metropolitan area. Figures for Toronto include data for Mississauga, Brampton, Durham, Orangeville and York. Source:The Canadian Real Estate Association.

Source: http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=1995721

Comments

  1. It's encouraging for home buyers to see that prices in Edmonton, St Albert, and area moderated a bit in August.
    I hear many buyers saying that the time is right to get financing for a home purchase.

    Natalie, thanks for keeping buyers and sellers up-to-date on the financing and market info. You know how to get the financing done!

    Ben Officer, CD - REALTOR®
    RE/MAX Real Estate
    http://benofficer.ca/blog.html

    ReplyDelete

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