Although the Canadian economy remains fundamentally strong with stable mortgage rates, low unemployment and consistent population growth, home buyers and sellers took a “wait and see” approach this past summer.
1- Alberta
2- British Columbia
3- Ontario
Edmonton, Alberta - August residential sales were up 18.6% over last year.
In spite of the warm weather and summer vacation, August sales in Edmonton were up 18.6% as compared to August 2007. The number of properties for sale was down compared to the same month last year.
“Sales, compared month to month, were stronger than last year for the second consecutive month,” said Marc Perras, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “New home sales are down dramatically partially because of the wide selection of homes available through the MLS® but buyers are demonstrating their confidence in this market and are not afraid to purchase.”
Days-on-market rose from 55 to 63 days. Average prices for all types of homes were down slightly from the previous month. Single family detached homes were off 2.65% to $369,190; the lowest price in 18 months. Condominium prices were down just 1.1% to $251,048 in August after a 3.25% slide in July. Duplex and rowhouse prices were down less than half a percent.
“Housing prices typically rise slightly through the fall,” said Perras. “We expect that the strong sales this quarter will support rising prices as we approach year-end. Once again, I encourage buyers and sellers to maintain contact with their REALTORS® to ensure they are up-to-date on the day-to-day changes in this dynamic market.”
British Columbia - Swollen inventories favour homebuyers.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports residential sales dollar volume in BC declined 38% to $2.9 billion in July, compared to July 2007. Residential unit sales fell 37% to 6,541 units during the same period. The average residential property price in the province was $444,358, down 0.5% from July 2007.
“Home sales have slowed to a level not seen since the beginning of the decade,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “BC households are now cautious about making major purchases in light of uncertainty around fuel prices and other inflationary pressures.”
“The slowdown in housing demand has swollen the inventory of homes for sale, putting downward pressure on home prices in some markets,” added Muir. A total of 60,008 homes were for sale on the MLS® in July, an increase of 63% from the previous year. “While this inventory is expected to decline in the coming months, most BC regions will remain in buyers’ market territory for the remainder of 2008.”
Year-to-date MLS® residential sales dollar volume in the province declined 18% to $23.2 billion compared to the same period last year. Sales transactions fell 24% to 49,448 units, while the average residential price increased 8.2% to $469,676 over the same period.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board reported 910 sales in August, reflecting a decrease of 48% compared to the 1,763 sales processed during the same month last year. The Board received 2,517 new listings in August, taking the number of active listings to 11,770, a 51% increase compared to the 7,819 listings available during August 2007 however, a 4% decline off July 2008’s record high of 12,299 listings.
The average price for a single family detached home fluctuated in a downward trend since February or March 2008, showing a six-month decrease of 1.5%. However, the average price of a single family detached home continued to show positive gains, going from $526,879 in August 2007 to $541,795 last month – a 2.8% increase.
Kelvin Neufeld, President of the Board explains, “Although our economy remains fundamentally strong with stable mortgage rates, low unemployment and consistent population growth, our clients took a “wait and see” approach this summer to buying and selling real estate.”
Ontario - Summer sales closed at a steady pace.
The Greater Toronto resale housing market closed out the last full month of summer at a steady pace, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill reported today. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) average price increased 1%, to $364,886 when compared to last August’s figure of $361,890.
In the City of Toronto the average price declined 1% to $377,990 from last August’s $381,681. Compared to the August 2006 figure of $344,419 however, the average price in the City of Toronto has increased 10%.
In the 905 Region the average price increased 2% to $356,657 from last August’s $348,563. Compared to the August 2006 figure of $334,245 the average price in the 905 Region has increased 7%.
“These healthy figures substantiate that when undertaken as a long term investment, buying a home is one of the smartest financial moves you can make,” said Ms. O’Neill.
Several neighbourhoods throughout the GTA experienced increased sales activity last month compared to August 2007. In Pickering transactions rose 6% based primarily on strong semi-detached home sales. And in Halton Hills strong attached/row house sales activity lead to a 3% increase in transactions overall.
Condominium apartment and detached home transactions drove Rosedale to an 81% increase in overall sales. Detached home transactions also contributed to an 11% overall increase in sales in Aurora.
Hamilton-Burlington - No information about July-August sales were available at the time of preparing this report.
Ottawa - Homes selling faster and prices still rising.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,187 residential properties in August through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 1,307 in August 2007, a decrease of 9.2%. There were 1,418 sales in July 2008.
The average price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in August in the Ottawa area was $280,806, an increase of 5.1% over August 2007.
“Making comparisons with 2007 is always difficult, because it remains the best year on record by such a significant margin. When you compare this year’s sales numbers to 2006, which still stands as the second-best year on record for sales, it becomes much more apparent that Ottawa’s resale housing market is very steady. In fact, year-to-date sales are up over the same time period in 2006. At the end of August of that year, members of the Board had sold 10,141 homes. As of the end of August 2008, members have sold 10,469 homes in the Ottawa area this year,” said Board President Heather Skuce.
“Homes are also selling more quickly this year than they have in the past two years, by a significant margin – as of the end of August 2008, homes spent an average of just 33 days on the market, compared with 42 days in 2006 and 37 days in 2007,” Skuce added.
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Information in this report is collected from the Real Estate Boards operating in each area.
