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Chuck Surette Coldwell Banker at Success Realty London, St Thomas and Port Stanley

Canadian Home Sales for April Edge Higher

OTTAWA – May 15, 2012 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity edged up by less than one per cent in April 2012.

Highlights:

  • Home sales up 0.8% from March to April.
  • Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 11.5% above levels in April 2011.
  • The size of the year-over-year increase reflects a slowdown in sales last April following changes to mortgage rules which came into effect on March 18, 2011.
  • The number of newly listed homes edged back 0.2% from March to April.
  • While still well balanced, the combination of stable new listings and slightly higher sales activity resulted in a tighter national housing market.
  • The national average home price edged up 0.9% on a year-over-year basis in April.

Sales over MLS® Systems of real estate Boards and Associations in Canada edged up 0.8 per cent from March to April 2012, putting them on par with levels reported in the same month two years earlier.

Activity was either up or held steady in half of all local markets in April, with Toronto and Calgary posting the biggest monthly increases for the second month in a row. Activity gains in Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, as well as London and St. Thomas also made significant contributions to the national sales increase in April. Increased activity in these markets offset monthly declines in Ottawa, Windsor-Essex, Quebec City, the Fraser Valley, and Vancouver.

“A number of Canadian housing market trends in April remained intact from the previous month,” said Wayne Moen, CREA President. “Trends in Vancouver and Toronto continue to diverge. These two housing markets have an obvious influence on national statistics and a high profile, but Canada is a big place. Trends in housing markets differ across Canada, and as all housing is local, buyers and sellers should speak to their local REALTOR® to better understand current and prospective trends where they live.”

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 11.5 per cent above levels in April 2011, reflecting the slowdown in sales following changes to mortgage regulations that came into effect in March of last year.

A total of 157,804 homes have traded hands so far this year, up 6.4 per cent from levels reported in the first four months of 2011 and about four per cent above both the five- and 10-year averages for sales during the first third of the year.

The number of newly listed homes was little changed in April compared to March, having edged back 0.2 per cent on a month-over-month basis. The number of markets in which new listings rose (45) ran almost even with those where new listings eased (54).

The national housing market tightened marginally in April due to higher sales and stable new listings, but remains firmly entrenched in balanced market territory. The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 55.9 per cent in April, up slightly from its March reading of 55.4 per cent. Based on a sales-to-new listings ratio of between 40 to 60 per cent, the number of local markets that were in balanced market territory in April (59) was up slightly from March (56).

Nationally, the number of months of inventory stood at 5.6 months at the end of April, unchanged from levels reported in March. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is a further measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in April 2012 was $375,810, up 0.9 per cent from the same month last year. While more or less flat compared to last spring on a national basis, average sale prices were up on a year-over-year basis in 80 per cent of all local markets in April.

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“It bears repeating that the national average price was skewed higher last spring by record level high-end home sales in Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods, and that a replay of this phenomenon was not expected this year,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Sales data confirm that high-end activity in Vancouver is well off the peak levels reached at this time last year, which is exerting a gravitational pull on the national average price.”

“By contrast, activity in Toronto is stronger this spring than it was last spring. Higher-priced sales activity there is on the rise and buoying average prices. As the most active housing market in Canada, Toronto is the biggest factor supporting national average price.”

“Netting Vancouver out of the national average price calculation yields a 4.9 per cent year-on-year gain. Netting Toronto out of the national average price calculation, while leaving Vancouver in, produces a 2.2 per cent year-on-year decline. Netting out both Vancouver and Toronto results in a 3.1 per cent increase in average price. On balance, this points to modest price growth amid balanced market conditions in much of the rest of Canada.”

I'm Here to Help,

Chuck Surette

Sales Representative

Coldwell Banker at Success Realty, Brokerage

Office-519-633-5570

Cell-519-777-4727

http://www.chucksurette.ca

Home prices up in March, but gains continue to moderate

From CREA:

OTTAWA – April 27th, 2012 – The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), the leading measure of Canadian home prices, stayed above year-ago levels in March 2012 according to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Year-over-year gains have been moderating. The increase in March was the smallest since last June.

Highlights:

  • The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index in March 2012 was up 5.1% year-over-year – on par with the gain in February and the smallest increase since June 2011.
  • Toronto posted the largest year-over-year increase (7.3%), followed by Vancouver (5.3%), the Fraser Valley (3.3%), Calgary (2.6%), and Montreal (2.2%).
  • Year-over-year gains were largest for one-and two-storey single family homes, which rose 5.4% and 6.8% respectively. Apartment prices climbed 3%, and townhouse prices were up 2.6%.

The MLS® Home Price Index rose 5.1 per cent in March 2012 compared to the same month last year. The increase was on par with February’s gain, which was the smallest since last June.

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“Overall price trends show that Canada’s housing market continues to moderate,” said Wayne Moen, CREA President. “Price increases have been shrinking since last fall. While that trend paused in March, it may in part reflect an early spring in many parts of the country, resulting in increased competition among buyers. That said, headline numbers mask some important differences in price trends among local housing markets and housing types. Since all real estate is local, buyers and sellers should talk to their local REALTOR® to best understand how home price trends are shaping up where they live.”

The MLS® HPI remained above its year-ago level in all five of the markets tracked, led by Toronto (7.3%).

It also held above year-ago levels in all housing categories tracked, led by two-storey single family homes (6.8%).

The MLS® HPI rose 1.3 per cent from to February to March 2012.

“The index typically experiences these types of month-over-month gains in the spring, which coincides with when the balance of supply to demand is tightest,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “With that in mind, it’s important to look at month-to-month movements in the context of how they compare to the same period in previous years. While the overall monthly price increase was on par with last year’s figure, it masks slowing price momentum in the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia. Slower price gains there were offset in March by a modest acceleration of price gains in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal.”

MLS® Home Price Index

January 2005 = 100

percentage change vs.

 Composite HPI:

March 2012

1 month ago

3 months ago

6 months ago

12 months ago

3 years ago

5 years ago

Aggregate

     152.9

1.33

2.62

2.48

5.09

21.45

18.71

Lower Mainland

     155.7

1.04

1.90

0.97

4.78

21.45

16.89

Greater Vancouver

     161.8

1.06

2.08

1.00

5.27

25.91

22.02

Fraser Valley

     142.2

0.92

1.50

1.07

3.34

11.44

5.72

Calgary

     172.3

1.41

2.38

1.95

2.62

7.69

-6.26

Greater Toronto

     147.6

1.65

3.14

3.94

7.35

30.74

31.79

Greater Montreal

     150.3

1.49

2.80

1.28

2.18

17.06

30.02

Interactive tables and charts for MLS® Home Price Index data on Composite, Single family homes (including separate indices for one- and two-storey homes), Townhouse/row units, and Apartment units are available at www.homepriceindex.ca/hpi_tool_en.html.

Data table available to media upon request, for purposes of reprinting only.  

In focus: Some of the trends underlying the overall MLS® HPI

Momentum in the overall MLS® HPI held steady between February and March 2012, with equal year-over-year gains of 5.1 per cent. However, because the MLS® HPI is composed of four Benchmark housing types and more than 1,600 sub-areas spread among five housing markets, the overall index can mask price trend variations among Benchmark housing categories within a single housing market and between different parts of the country.

Price gains for two-storey single family homes have surpassed this in other housing categories since the beginning of the economic recovery. Despite a recent deceleration in gains, two-storey single family homes posted the strongest year-over-year price gains in March. By contrast, price gains for one-storey single family homes picked up in March, which was driven mainly by increases in Montreal and Toronto.

Price growth remains much stronger for one-and two-storey single family homes compared to multi-family units, with price gains for single family homes (6.4%) running roughly double that for townhouse units (2.6%) or apartment units (3.0%). Even so, there are significant differences between housing markets.

In Montreal, townhouse unit prices are rising faster than prices for other housing types. This likely reflects the desirability of their location, since townhouse units are predominantly centrally located while single family homes are often located further from Montreal’s city centre.

Price gains have remained strongest in Toronto since mid-2011. The rise in Toronto’s Composite MLS® HPI was a full two per cent above the year-over-year increase in Vancouver’s composite index. This represents the largest spread for price growth between these two markets in more than a year. This gap may widen further, since the Vancouver market is showing signs of coming off the boil while a lack of available supply relative to demand keeps Toronto’s housing market in seller’s market territory.

For additional information, including interactive tables, please go to: www.homepriceindex.ca.

MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 100,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

Further statistical information can be found at http://crea.ca/statistics.

I'm Here to Help,

Chuck Surette

Sales Representative

Coldwell Banker at Success Realty, Brokerage

Office-519-633-5570

Cell-519-777-4727

http://www.chucksurette.ca

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