Tag Archives: sales
Canadian property prices and sales both continue upwards, latest index shows
National home sales in Canada rose by 0.7% from September to October and prices were up 7.1% year on year, according to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. It is the sixth consecutive month of stronger resale housing activity compared to a quiet start to the year, and the strongest activity for the month of October since 2009. ‘Low interest rates continued to support sales in some of Canada’s more active and expensive urban housing markets and factored into the monthly increase for national sales,’ said CREA president Beth Crosbie. ‘Even so, sales did not increase in many local markets in Canada, which shows that national and local housing market trends can be very different,’ she added. According to Gregory Klump, CREA chief economist, while the strength of national sales activity is far from being a Canada-wide phenomenon, it extends beyond Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. ‘Sales in a number of B.C. markets have started to recover from weaker demand over the past couple of years. They have also been improving across much of Alberta, where interprovincial migration and international immigration are reaching new heights,’ he explained. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in October stood 7% above levels reported in the same month last year. October sales were up from year ago levels in about 70% of all local markets, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Victoria, Calgary, and Greater Toronto. Combined sales in these five markets account for almost 40% of national sales activity, and nearly 60% of the year on year increase in national sales. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity for the year to date in October was 5.2% above levels in the first 10 months of 2013 and 2.5% above the 10 year average for the same period. The house price index increased by 5.51% year on year in October. Price gains have held steady between 5% and 5.5% since the beginning of the year. A breakdown of the data shows that year on year price growth accelerated for two storey single family homes, townhouse units and apartment units in October. By contrast, price momentum slowed further for one storey single family homes. Two storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year on year price gains at 6.94%, followed closely by townhouses at 5.83%, and one storey single family homes at 4.75%. Price growth for apartment units remains comparatively more modest at 3.51%. Price growth varied among housing markets tracked by the index. As in recent months, Calgary saw the biggest increase at 9.47%, Greater Toronto saw growth of 8.3% and Greater Vancouver was up 6.03%. Prices were up between 1% and 2.5% year on year in the Fraser Valley, Victoria, and Vancouver Island, flat in Saskatoon, Ottawa, Greater Montreal, and Greater Moncton, and down 3.4% in Regina. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in October 2014 was $419,699, up 7.1% from the same month last year. The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales… Continue reading
Property sales in Canada set to rise by almost 4% this year
Residential property sales in Canada are forecast to increase by 3.8% this year compared to 2013, according to revised figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The data reflects stronger than expected sales in recent months. Even so, sales activity is expected to peak in the third quarter as the impact of a deferred spring dissipates and continuing home price increases erode housing affordability. This would place activity in 2014 slightly above but still broadly in line with its 10 year average. Despite periods of monthly volatility since the recession of 2008/2009, annual activity has remained stable within a fairly narrow range around its 10 year average. This stability contrasts sharply to the rapid growth in sales in the early 2000s prior to the recession. British Columbia is forecast to post the largest year on year increase in activity at 11.9% followed closely by Alberta at 7.7%. Demand in both of these provinces is currently running at multi year highs. Activity in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick is expected to come in roughly in line with 2013 levels, with sales increases ranging between 1% and 2% in the first three provinces and edging lower by about 1% lower sales in the latter two provinces. Sales in Nova Scotia and in Newfoundland and Labrador are projected to be down this year by 3.9% and 5.2% respectively. Mortgage interest rates are expected to edge higher as Canadian exports, business investment, job growth, and incomes improve. These opposing factors should benefit housing markets where demand has been softer but prices have remained more affordable. Sales in relatively less affordable housing markets are likely to be more sensitive to higher fixed mortgage rates, the CREA report also says. National activity is now forecast to reach 473,100 units in 2015, representing a decline of four tenths of 1%. Sales activity is forecast to grow fastest in Nova Scotia at 3.3%, followed by Quebec with growth of 1.3% and New Brunswick at 1.3%. Alberta is the only other province forecast to post higher sales next year with growth of 1%. In other provinces, activity is forecast to decline in the range of between 1% and 2%. In British Columbia and Ontario, this trend reflects eroding affordability for single family homes, the report says. The national average price has evolved largely as expected since the spring, resulting in little change to CREA’s previous forecast so it is projected to rise by 5.9% to $405,000 in 2014, with similar price gains in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Increases of just below 3% are forecast for Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador is forecast to see average home price rise by about 1% this year, while Quebec is forecast to see an increase half that size. Prices are forecast to be flat in New Brunswick and recede by almost 2% in Nova Scotia. The national average price is forecast to edge up a further 0.7% in 2015 to $407,900. Alberta and Manitoba… Continue reading
Overseas investors become largest investors in UK commercial property
Overseas investors have for the first time overtaken UK institutions to become the largest owners of UK commercial property, new data shows. The value of portfolios held by overseas owners has more than doubled, up by 129%, over the last decade to £94 billion, according to the Property Industry Alliance. The increase means that overseas investors now own almost a quarter, 24%, of all commercial property investment in the UK, the Property Data Report 2014 shows, with three quarters of this investment in London. By contrast the total owned by UK institutions fell by 16% over the decade to £75 billion, representing just under one fifth of the £385 billion invested in commercial buildings. ‘The annual Property Data Report is an invaluable resource which sets out clearly key facts about commercial property and shows the crucial role it plays in the UK’s economy,’ said Sir Robert Finch, chairman of the Property Industry Alliance. ‘Aside from its contribution to the economy, which the report shows to be sizeable, the commercial property industry is also a platform for virtually all the country’s other major industries and a significant contributor to the financing of retirement. Its attractiveness to investors from both the UK and overseas is therefore to be welcomed,’ he added. The research also reveals that average rental increases over the last 10 years in the office sector of 1.1% and 0.5% in the retail sector have increased at a much slower rate than other business costs, and well below the rate of retail price inflation of 3.3%. Drawing on recent work by the Investment Property Forum, the report highlighted that of the £683 billion total UK commercial stock, retail is the largest sector by value at £305 billion, followed by offices at £195 billion and then industrial property at £126 billion. Other commercial property, including hotels and leisure, was valued at £58 billion. Continue reading
