Canadian Housing Market Continues at a Healthy and Balanced Pace
The Canadian housing market continues at a healthy and balanced pace. Many areas have registered record sales in April as buyers continued to take advantage of affordable home ownership opportunities.
“This spring market is one of the best we’ve had,” said REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington’s (RAHB) President Joe Ferrante. "The number of residential sales is the highest in any April on record, and we broke last month’s new record for the number of listings taken in a month, ever.”
Demand levels continue to be strong with the number of sales occurring being above long-term historical levels. A rise in the number of new listings coming on to the MLS® System in March and April has added to supply, especially in cities, adding further balance to the market and generally keeping any significant upward pressure on prices in check.
This strong market is expected to last through the spring, but it will probably be at the expense of the second half of the year, when the HST kicks in for Ontario and British Columbia and mortgage rates go up again.
Ontario - A Record First Quarter Sales
Toronto, May 5, 2010 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,898 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, representing a 34% increase compared to April 2009. There were also 20,683 new listings in April – a 59% annual increase. Both the sales and new listings results amounted to new records for the month of April under the current Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) boundaries.
“The GTA resale market is functioning properly. Sales were high as buyers continued to take advantage of affordable home ownership opportunities. Listings grew as home owners reacted to strong sales and price growth,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Tom Lebour. “More balanced market conditions will result in sustainable rates of annual price growth in the second half of 2010.”
The average price for April transactions was $437,600 – up 13% compared to the average of $385,641 recorded in April 2009.
“Home sales continue to be driven by many different segments of the market, with sales growth for all major home types in both the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “Home sales will remain strong in the second half of 2010, but will slip from the current record pace as borrowing costs rise.”
Hamilton, May 5, 2010 – The Greater Hamilton-Burlington area resale market reported a total of 1,537 units sold in April, an increase of 38.2% over April of last year, according to the Multiple Listing Services® (MLS®) statistics released by the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB).When compared to March of this year, total unit sales were 7.3% higher in April, 2010.
Residential properties sold during April totaled 1,490, which included 1,228 freehold properties and 262 condominiums. Commercial sales for April, including industrial, farm, vacant land and business, totaled 47 units.
The average price of freehold residential properties sold in the month of April was $336,625, an increase of 11.35% over the same month last year and an increase of under 1% over last month. In the condominium market, the average price of condominiums in April was $230,186, an increase of over 7% over April 2009 and an increase of 4% from last month.
April’s total average residential sale price increased 11.1% over the same month in 2009. The total number of units listed for sale during April was 2,517, which is almost 35% higher than were listed in the same month in 2009.
Ottawa, May 5, 2010 – Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,841 residential properties in April through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 1,591 in April 2009, an increase of 15.7%. Of those sales, 425 were in the condominium property class, while 1,416 were in the residential property class.
“Last month’s sales blew away the record for April, which is always one of the busiest months of the year for our market,” said Ottawa Real Estate Board President Pierre de Varennes. “The increased sales activity may be partially due to buyers trying to avoid the impending HST and the mortgage changes that came into effect on April 19th, but also demonstrates that consumers feel confident about our local economy,” he added.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in April in the Ottawa area was $332,979, an increase of 11.6% over April 2009. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $254,220, an increase of 17.4% over April 2009. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $356,617, an increase of 11.7% over April 2009.
British Columbia – Home Buyer and Seller Activity Increases in Busy Spring Market
Vancouver, May 5, 2010 - The Greater Vancouver housing market experienced increased activity in April thanks to a steady balance of home buyers and sellers entering the marketplace.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totaled 3,512 in April 2010, the fifth highest-selling April on record. The figure represents an increase of 18.5% compared to the 2,963 sales in April 2009; 9.1% more than April 2008’s 3,218 sales; and 3.7% more than April 2007’s 3,387 sales. April 2010 sales also represent a 12% increase compared to last month.
“We’re in the midst of another strong spring season thanks to high levels of activity on both the buyer and seller side of our market,” said REBGV’s president, Jake Moldowan,. “The number of homes coming on the market has increased significantly in recent months, which is providing a healthy level of choice for those looking to buy during this busy period.”
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totaled 7,648 in April 2010, a 64.5% increase compared to April 2009 when 4,649 new units were listed, and a 9.2% increase compared to March 2010 when 7,004 properties were added to the inventory. At 15,901, the total number of property listings on the MLS® increased 17% in April compared to last month, and is up 11% compared to this time last year.
Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 18.9% to $593,419 from $499,021 in April 2009.
“It was at this time last year when home prices in our region began their recovery from the declines that occurred during the recession period,” Moldowan said.
Sales of detached properties in April 2010 reached 1,370, an increase of 15.1% from the 1,190 detached sales recorded in April 2009 and a 6% increase from the 1,293 units sold in April 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 21.2% from April 2009 to $818,403.
Sales of apartment properties reached 1,526 in April 2010, an increase of 29.4% compared to the 1,179 sales in April 2009 and an increase of 15.9% compared to the 1,317 sales in April 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 16.9% from April 2009 to $397,779.
Attached property sales in April 2010 totaled 616, an increase of 3.7% compared to the 594 sales in April 2009 and a 1.3% increase from the 608 attached properties sold in April 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 16.4% between April 2009 and 2010 to $502,399.
Alberta – Housing Market Continues at a Healthy and Balanced Pace
Calgary, May 3, 2010 – Calgary’s housing market continues at a healthy and balanced pace, according to figures released today by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®). The number of single family homes sold in April 2010 in the city of Calgary was up 5% from the same time a year ago, while condominium sales saw an increase of 10% from the same time a year ago. April 2010 saw 1,352 single family homes sold in the city of Calgary. This is a decrease of 3% from 1,396 sales in March 2010. In April 2009, single family home sales totaled 1,290. The number of condominium sales for the month of April 2010 was 639. This was an increase of 5% from the 609 condominium transactions recorded in March 2010.
“Continued economic optimism, improved choice and price stability are all contributing to a healthy and balanced housing market in Calgary,” says Diane Scott, president of CREB®. “Calgary’s housing market is set to simmer, not sizzle in 2010. We can be grateful that we are not facing any real danger of a housing bubble here in our market.” “There has been some talk about a bubble in some parts of Canada but the rapid price increases seen in Vancouver, Victoria and southern Ontario have not been seen in Calgary,” Scott acknowledges.
“Single family house prices are coming back nicely compared to 2009,” says Scott. The average price of a single family home in the city of Calgary in April 2010 was $460,378, showing an decrease of 2% from March 2010, when the average price was $471,269, and showing an increase of 8% from April 2009, when the average price was $426,311.
The average price of a condominium in the city of Calgary was $289,588, showing a 2% decrease from March 2010, when the average price was $296,660 and a 4% increase over last year, when the average price was $277,953. Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods, or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
“Calgary didn’t see the impacts of the very low interest rates the way other areas of Canada did,” says Scott. “Calgarians are also not rushing out to beat the rate increases as they are seeing less risk of rising prices squeezing them out of the market. In fact financially, Calgarians are in a very healthy position. Just over 37% of our median pretax household income was needed to service the mortgage on a typical detached bungalow in Calgary that’s below the national average,” says Scott.
Nova Scotia -Strength in Resale Market Expected to Increase Listings
Nova Scotia, April 26, 2010 – For the sixth month in a row, the real estate market in Nova Scotia continued its trend of increases in sales and small decreases in listings, though the number of listings are expected to increase as we move further into spring. The Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS® (NSAR) reported that the number of residential units sold across the province through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System from January to March was up 23.2% compared to the same three months last year. Listings were down only 0.1%. The average price in the province was up 12.3%, with larger increases in Yarmouth and the South Shore.
NSAR President Karen Edwards who began her term in March 2010 says that the strength of the resale market will likely drive up the number of listings, resulting in a more balanced resale housing market.
“As we move into spring, those waiting for warmer weather and an increase in buyers to sell are now listing their properties. The number of listings has increased over the last couple of months and that’s a good thing – there certainly seems to be plenty of buyers in most areas of Nova Scotia,” says Edwards.
As more homes come on to the market, sellers must ensure they have an effective marketing and pricing strategy in place. A REALTOR® has access to information and tools that can assist the seller in getting noticed in a more competitive market.
Saskatchewan - April Sales Jump
Regina, May 6, 2010 – Residential property sales in April have once again exceeded 2009 levels. 387 sales were reported in April, an increase of 17% from 330 in 2009. Inside the city of Regina there were 332 sales, up 10% from 303 sales in 2009.
The monthly average sales price of $256,871 set a new high and was up 3% over the previous high of $248,234 recorded in 2009. The average price inside the city was $263,973, up 4% from 2009’s $252,826. For the year-to-date there have been 1,185 homes sold, up 18% from 2009’s 1,007 sales.
Homes sold in April were on the market for an average of 36 days before selling compared to 31 in March of 2010. Homes sold at an average of 97.2% of asking price. There were 1,336 active listings on the market at month end, including 783 in the city. There were 648 new listings placed on the MLS® System during the month, a decrease of 7% from 2009’s 696.
“In many ways the residential real estate market is a close barometer of what’s happening in the local economy. Sales in April have again demonstrated the continued strength of the local market and economy,” said Gord Archibald, Executive Officer of the Association of Regina REALTORS® Inc.
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