Canadian home sales activity edges higher in August

Ottawa, ON, September 17, 2018 – Statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show a small increase in national home sales between July and August 2018.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose 0.9% from July to August.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 3.8% from August 2017.
• The number of newly listed homes was unchanged from July to August.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) was up 2.5% year-over-year (y-o-y) in August.
• The national average sale price edged up 1% y-o-y in August.

National home sales via Canadian MLS® Systems edged up by 0.9% in August 2018, marking a fourth consecutive monthly gain. However, sales activity is still running below levels in most other months going back to early 2014.

Roughly half of all local markets recorded an increase in sales from July to August, led again by the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), along with gains in Montreal and Edmonton.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 3.8% y-o-y in August, due mainly to declines in major urban centres in British Columbia.

“The new stress-test on mortgage applicants implemented earlier this year continues to weigh on national home sales,” said CREA President Barb Sukkau. “The degree to which the stress-test continues to sideline home buyers varies depending on location, housing type and price range. All real estate is local, and REALTORS® remain your best source for information about sales and listings where you live or might like to in the future,” said Sukkau.

“Improving national home sales activity in recent months continues to obscure significant differences in regional trends for home sales and prices,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Moreover, recent monthly sales increases are diminishing, which suggests that the recent rebound may be starting to lose steam.”

The number of newly listed homes was unchanged between July and August, as new supply gains in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) and Montreal offset declines in the GTA and Winnipeg.

With sales up slightly and new listings unchanged, the national sales-to-new listings ratio edged up to 56.6% in August compared to 56.2% in July. The long-term average for this measure of market balance is 53.4%.

Considering the degree and duration to which market balance readings are above or below their long-term average is a way of gauging whether local housing market conditions favour buyers or sellers. As a rule of thumb, measures of market balance that are within one standard deviation of their long-term average are generally consistent with balanced market conditions.

Based on a comparison of the sales-to-new listings ratio with the long-term average, about two-thirds of all local markets were in balanced market territory in August 2018.

The number of months of inventory is another important measure for the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents how long it would take to liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

There were 5.2 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of August 2018, right in line with the long-term average for the measure.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) was up 2.5% y-o-y in August 2018.

Apartment units posted the largest y-o-y price gains in August (+9.5%), followed by townhouse/row units (+4.3%). Meanwhile, one-storey and two-storey single family home prices were little changed on a y-o-y basis in August (+0.4% and -0.4% respectively).

As of this release, housing market coverage for MLS® HPI now includes Hamilton-Burlington and the Niagara Region.

Trends continue to vary widely among the 17 housing markets tracked by the MLS® HPI. Home price gains are diminishing on a y-o-y basis in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia (GVA: +4.1%; Fraser Valley: +10.7%). Prices in Victoria were up 8.5% y-o-y in August. Elsewhere on Vancouver Island, prices climbed 13.6%.

Among the Greater Golden Horseshoe housing markets tracked by the index, home prices were up from year-ago levels in Hamilton-Burlington (+7.2%), the Niagara Region (+6.6%), Guelph (+5.5%), the GTA (+1.4%) and Oakville-Milton (+1.2%). By contrast, home prices remained down on a y-o-y basis in Barrie and District (-2.7%).

In the Prairies, benchmark home prices remained down on a y-o-y basis in Calgary (-2.2%), Edmonton (-2.1%), Regina (-4.8%) and Saskatoon (-2.3%).

Meanwhile, home prices rose by 7.1% y-o-y in Ottawa (led by an 8.2% increase in two-storey single family home prices), by 5.9% in Greater Montreal (led by a 6.3% increase in two-storey single family home prices) and by 4.8% in Greater Moncton (led by a 7.5% increase in two-storey single family home prices). (Table 1)

The MLS® HPI provides the best way of gauging price trends because average price trends are strongly distorted by changes in the mix of sales activity from one month to the next.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in August 2018 was just over $475,500, up 1% from the same month last year.

The national average price is heavily skewed by sales in the GVA and GTA, two of Canada’s most active and expensive markets. Excluding these two markets from calculations cuts almost $94,000 from the national average price, trimming it to just under $382,000.

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PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month. 

CREA cautions that 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 differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types. 

MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems 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. CREA works on behalf of more than 125,000 REALTORS® who contribute to the economic and social well-being of communities across Canada. Together they advocate for property owners, buyers and sellers.

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

For more information, please contact:

Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca

Canadian home sales activity strengthens in July

Ottawa, ON, August 15, 2018 – Statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales were up from June to July 2018.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose 1.9% from June to July.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 1.3% from July 2017.
• The number of newly listed homes edged down 1.2% from June to July.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in July was up 2.1% year-over-year (y-o-y).
• The national average sale price edged up 1% y-o-y.

National home sales via Canadian MLS® Systems rose 1.9% in July 2018, building on increases in each of the two previous months but still running below levels recorded from mid-2013 to the end of last year (Chart A). Led by the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), more than half of all local housing markets reported an increase sales activity from June to July.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 1.3% y-o-y. The result reflects fewer sales in major urban centres in British Columbia and an offsetting improvement in activity in the GTA.

“This year’s new stress-test on mortgage applicants continues to weigh on home sales but its effect may be starting to fade slightly in Toronto and nearby markets,” said CREA President Barb Sukkau. “The degree to which the stress-test continues to sideline home buyers varies depending on location, housing type and price range. All real estate is local, and REALTORS® remain your best source for information about sales and listings where you live or might like to in the future,” said Sukkau.

“Improving national home sales activity in recent months obscures significant differences in regional trends for home sales and prices,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Regardless, rising interest rates and this year’s stress test on mortgage applicants will likely prove to be difficult hurdles to overcome for many would-be first time and move-up homebuyers, heading into the second half of the year and beyond.”

The number of newly listed homes retreated 1.2% in July and stood below monthly levels recorded over most of the past eight years. New listings were down in more than half of all local markets, led by Calgary, Edmonton and Greater Vancouver (GVA). Fewer new listings in these markets more than offset an increase in new supply in the GTA.

With sales up and new listings down, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened further to reach 55.9% in July. This reading nonetheless remains within short reach of the long-term average of 53.4% for this measure of market balance.

Considering the degree and duration to which market balance readings are above or below their long-term average is a useful way of gauging whether local housing market conditions favour buyers or sellers. As a rule of thumb, measures of market balance that are within one standard deviation of their long-term average are generally consistent with balanced market conditions.

Based on a comparison of the sales-to-new listings ratio with the long-term average, about two-thirds of all local markets were in balanced market territory in July 2018.

The number of months of inventory is another important measure for the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents how long it would take to liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

There were 5.3 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of July 2018, down from 5.4 months in June and near the long-term average of 5.2 months.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) was up 2.1% y-o-y in July 2018. This represents the first acceleration in y-o-y home price growth since April 2017. It also suggests that the dip in home prices last summer and their subsequent rebound in and around the GTA may contribute to further y-o-y gains in the months ahead.

Apartment units posted the largest y-o-y price gains in July (+10.1%), followed by townhouse/row units (+4.7%). By contrast, one-storey and two-storey single family home prices were again down from year-ago levels in July (-0.7% and -1.5% respectively) but the declines were noticeably smaller than in recent months.

Trends continue to vary widely among the 15 housing markets tracked by the MLS® HPI, with home prices up from year-ago levels in eight of them, little changed in two of them and down in the remainder.

Home price gains are diminishing on a y-o-y basis in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia (GVA: +6.7%; Fraser Valley: +13.8%), Victoria (+8.2%) and elsewhere on Vancouver Island (+13.7%).

Among Golden Horseshoe housing markets tracked by the index, home prices remained above year-ago levels in Guelph (+4.1%) and stabilized in Oakville-Milton (+0.1%). By contrast, home prices remained down on a y-o-y basis in the GTA (-0.6%) and Barrie and District (-3%).

In the Prairies, benchmark home prices remained down on a y-o-y basis in Calgary (-1.7%), Edmonton (-1.3%), Regina (-4.8%) and Saskatoon (-2.1%).

Meanwhile, benchmark home prices rose by 7.2% y-o-y in Ottawa (led by an 8.3% increase in two-storey single family home prices), by 5.7% in Greater Montreal (led by a 7% increase in townhouse/row unit prices) and by 5% in Greater Moncton (led by a 9.9% increase in apartment unit prices). (Table 1)

MLS® HPI provides the best way of gauging price trends because average price trends are strongly distorted by changes in the mix of sales activity from one month to the next.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in July 2018 was just under $481,500, up 1% from the same month last year. This was the first year-over-year increase since January.

The national average price is heavily skewed by sales in the GVA and GTA, two of Canada’s most active and expensive markets. Excluding these two markets from calculations cuts close to $100,000 from the national average price, trimming it to just under $383,000.

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PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month. 

CREA cautions that 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 differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types. 

MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems 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. CREA works on behalf of more than 125,000 REALTORS® who contribute to the economic and social well-being of communities across Canada. Together they advocate for property owners, buyers and sellers.

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

For more information, please contact:

Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca

Data Related to Nearby Schools Added to Listings on REALTOR.ca

Ottawa, ON August 1^st, 2018 – Canadian parents have always asked their REALTORS® about nearby schools when considering a new home and starting today they’ll be able to access school catchment information when looking at property listings on REALTOR.ca, Canada’s #1 real-estate website.

New school catchment information on REALTOR.ca will rollout nationally in phases, with major centers available now (see list below). Coverage will grow to 80% of school boards in Canada by September. An additional feature allowing parents to search for a property within a particular school’s catchment area will be available later in the fall.

“When searching for a home, having supplementary school catchment areas available will help homebuyers make better, more informed decisions when it comes to selecting a home that meets their families’ needs,” said James Mabey, a REALTOR® from Edmonton. “Consumers look beyond pricing, or the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and expect REALTOR.ca to have the latest information on a property.”

Earlier this spring, CREA partnered with Local Logic to add neighbourhood specific lifestyle information to REALTOR.ca property listings.

“We’re very excited to continue expanding our relationship with REALTOR.ca and work with them to develop meaningful products that showcase advances in Canadian real estate technology,” stated Vincent-Charles Hodder, CEO of Local Logic.

To learn more about the new school catchment feature, please visit REALTOR.ca and look for a listing in the current coverage zones.

Cities currently covered: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton, Quebec, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, St Catharines – Niagara, Halifax, Oshawa, Victoria, Windsor, Saskatoon, Regina

Cities to be added by September: St. John’s, Barrie, Kelowna, Abbotsford-Mission, Sudbury, Kingston, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Guelph, Moncton, Brantford, Saint John, Peterborough, Thunder Bay, Lethbridge, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Belleville, Chatham-Kent, Fredericton, Chilliwack, Sherbrooke.

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About Local Logic
Local Logic collects and shares location characteristics to assist prospective buyers, and real estate professionals, in finding just the right spot. Scores ranging from walkability, nearby transit and even street sound levels paint a virtual picture of the location before even setting foot on the property.

About The Canadian Real Estate Association
REALTOR.ca is owned and operated by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations. CREA works on behalf of 125,000 REALTORS® who contribute to the economic and social well-being of communities across Canada. Together they advocate for property owners, buyers and sellers. REALTOR.ca provides trusted, up-to-date and comprehensive property advertisements for residential, commercial and rental properties across Canada. Whether you have just started looking or you are ready to make that important purchase, REALTOR.ca connects you to valuable resources and local REALTORS® to help you find your dream property.

For additional information, please contact:
Steve La Barbera
Media Relations, Local Logic
T: 438-994-6444
E: steve@ftgdigital.com

Linda Kristal, Director, Communications
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E: lkristal@crea.ca