Taylor Scott International News
National home sales in Canada increased by 3.1% from March to April and prices were up 13.1% year on year, the biggest gain since May 2010, the latest index shows. The data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) also shows that actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 10.3% compared to April 2015 while the number of newly listed homes was little changed with a decline of 0.2% from March to April. Sales were up in April compared to the previous month in about 70% of all local markets, led by the National Capital Region and Edmonton. Following small declines the previous month, activity held steady in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and edged lower in Greater Vancouver. ‘National home sales set new monthly records over the past two months, even as activity in Greater Vancouver and the GTA appears to have topped out,’ said CREA president Cliff Iverson. ‘With almost three quarters of all local markets posting sales gains in April, there are plenty of other places where sales are climbing as we head into the busiest time of the year for home buyers,’ he added. CREA chief economist Gregory Klump pointed out that supply shortages and tight housing market conditions have become self-reinforcing in the GTA and the Greater Vancouver Area appears to be heading in that direction too. ‘While significant home price gains may entice some homeowners in these markets to list their home for sale, the issue for many is that the decision to move means they would also be looking to buy while competition for scarce listings is fierce,’ he explained. ‘As a result, many home owners are deciding to stay put and continue accumulating capital gains. That’s keeping listings off the markets at a time when they are already in short supply,’ he added. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity rose 10.3% year on year ago to shatter all previous records for the month of April. It also marked the second highest level for transactions for any single month and stood 16.5% above the 10 year average for the month of April. Activity was up from year-ago levels in about 70% of all local markets, led by a number of markets in British Columbia as well as the GTA and the number of markets where new supply rose and where it fell was fairly evenly split. New listings were up most in Edmonton and on Vancouver Island but fell in the GTA, London and St. Thomas as well as Newfoundland and Labrador. The national sales to new listings ratio rose to 64.5% in April 2016, the ratio’s tightest reading since October 2009. A sales to new listings ratio between 40% and 60% is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively. The ratio was above 60% in about half of all local housing markets in April, virtually all of which are located in British Columbia, the… Taylor Scott International
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