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Home resales improve in October
Canada's resale housing activity rose for the third consecutive month in October 2010, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards climbed 4.6 per cent in October 2010. The monthly rise in activity builds on similar increases in August and September. As a result, activity now stands 13.3 per cent above July levels, when it reached this year’s low point.
Three-quarters of local markets posted monthly increases in seasonally adjusted activity in October, led by Toronto and Vancouver. As further evidence that the market is returning to normal, sales activity in October stood halfway between the recessionary low reached in December 2008, and the record level activity posted in December 2009.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) national sales activity in October 2010 was 21.6 per below levels for October 2009, when activity set a new record for the month.
National sales activity rebounded last year without a single monthly decline and hit record levels in the second half of 2009. As a result, large declines in activity compared to year-ago levels are masking recent monthly gains in national sales activity. Record level activity late last year is expected to continue stretching year-ago comparisons over the rest of 2010.
The number of new residential listings on Canadian MLS® Systems edged up 1.3 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis in October. New listings remain 14 per cent below the recent peak reached in April 2010.
National sales activity and new listings have swung widely but synchronously, which has kept the market in balanced territory since the spring. Over half of all local markets in Canada are balanced, with an almost equal proportion of the remainder in buyers’ or sellers’ market territory.
The national average price trend remains stable, in keeping with a balanced market. The national average price trend has remained fairly steady for more than a year, but only recently is this being reflected in year-over-year comparisons. The national average price for homes sold in October 2010 was $343,747, up less than a percentage point compared to one year ago. October marks the fourth consecutive month in which the average home price has remained roughly even with year-ago levels.
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 measures the balance between housing supply and demand. The seasonally adjusted number of months of inventory stood at 6.2 months at the end of October on a national basis. This is down from 6.5 months in September. The number of months of inventory now stands a full month below where it was in July.
“The continuation of low interest rates is supporting sales activity, which has been improving over the past few months in a number of major markets including Vancouver,” said Georges Pahud, CREA’s President. “National housing market trends are improving, but local market trends can differ significantly, so home buyers and sellers should consult their REALTOR® to understand how their housing market is evolving.”
“National sales activity is now running almost halfway between the highs and lows posted between late 2008 and late 2009,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “This suggests that the Canadian housing market may be starting to normalize. After the wild rollercoaster ride that many housing markets have been on, normal and stable market conditions are something that many buyers and sellers will likely welcome.”
November 15, 2010 in Canadian Real Estate Market | Permalink
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Comments
National sales activity rebounded last year without a single monthly decline and hit record levels.That suggests plenty of cut-rate foreclosure homes are finding buyers,which weighs down average home prices.It's just another bad report.There's some improvement but it's fiscally insignificant.
Posted by: laptop sleeve | Jan 7, 2011 12:37:47 AM
I find the prices are going down for condo's in the GTA area, right now I'm looking to buy, with this information I think I'm going to buy property very soon.
Posted by: Philip Kirkopoulos | Dec 13, 2010 1:58:11 PM
More dismal news, the Olympic Village condos in Vancouver went into receivership today.
That's a $750M credit in default. Any one of you bloggers know the identity of the lender(s)?
Is it a syndicate of banks, municipal bondholders, or someone else?
Posted by: Tomas | Nov 17, 2010 10:33:08 PM
Now is already mid-Nov, and Brampton sales data for Sep. & Oct. is still not available. What is happening? Word is sales are down greater then 50% but since the RE board in Brampton haven't released the numbers tells me that sales are worse then a 50% drop in sales. In Toronto and surrounding GTA sales have dropped 20% each and every month for the pasy five month.
Posted by: Prem | Nov 17, 2010 6:13:28 PM
I am not sure about the rest of Canada but the real estate market seems to be stable in Edmonton. Yes, we have seen decrease in number of sales, however, the prices of homes are not going down at all.
Derek H.
Posted by: Edmonton Real Estate | Nov 17, 2010 4:30:35 PM
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