Canadian home sales see summer slip
Toronto, one of the biggest drivers of activity Photo: Bob Linsdell
Canadian home sales suffered a slight slip this summer, as transactions dipped by 0.4 per cent in July 2015. Deals dropped for the second time in a row, a trend that will be welcomed by many following months of tightening supply.
Indeed, the number of newly listed homes was little changed (up 0.2 per cent) in July compared to June, marking the fourth consecutive month in which new listings have held steady. New supply was up in a little more than half of all local markets, led by rebounds in Calgary and Edmonton, which offset a small step down in the GTA.
There were 5.6 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of July 2015, unchanged from the previous two months and a three-year low for the measure.
"The national balance between supply and demand has tightened since the beginning of the year as rising sales have drawn down on overall supply," reads the latest report from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
As a result, prices have been pushed up, especially in the heated markets of Toronto and Vancouver, the most active parts of the country. The property pricein July 2015 was $437,699, up 8.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis. Excluding the two city areas, the average price is a more modest $341,438, up 4.1 per cent year-on-year.
Greater Vancouver recorded a rise of 11.23 per cent in prices, with Greater Toronto's house values up 9.39 per cent. By comparison, year-over-year price growth in the Fraser Valley accelerated to about 6 per cent, while Victoria and Vancouver Island prices continued to log year-over-year gains of about four per cent in July.
Price gains in Calgary continued to slow, with a year-over-year increase of just 0.14 per cent in July. This was the smallest gain in nearly four years.
Elsewhere, home prices were up from July 2014 levels by just under 2 per cent in Greater Montreal and by just under one per cent in Ottawa. By comparison, prices fell by about 3.5 per cent in Regina and by about 1.5 per cent in Greater Moncton.
"National sales activity remains solid, fuelled by strength in British Columbia and the Greater Toronto Area, where listings are in short supply or trending that way," says CREA President Pauline Aunger. "That said, markets elsewhere across Canada are largely well balanced and in some cases have an ample supply of listings."
Indeed, a sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 per cent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings above and below this range indicating sellers’ and buyers’ markets, respectively. The national sales-to-new listings ratio was 56.8 per cent in July, down slightly from 57.1 per cent in June.