CREA News

Existing home sales activity reached the highest level ever for the month of December, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association. Strong demand in the second half of 2009, especially in the fourth quarter, pushed annual sales above 2008 levels.

Residential sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) of Canadian real estate boards numbered 27,744 units in December 2009. This stands 72 per cent above activity in December 2008, when activity dropped to the lowest level in a decade. New records for the month of December were reported in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador.

Seasonally adjusted national home sales totalled 46,805 units in December, capping the strongest fourth quarter period ever. A total of 137,957 homes traded hands on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter of 2009. This is up 2.6 per cent from the previous record set in the first quarter of 2007. New quarterly records were set in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

National sales activity began 2009 on a weak footing. Despite year-over-year increases in the second and third quarters of the year, year-to-date activity was still trailing 2008 levels at the end of September 2009. A 59 per cent year-over-year gain in the fourth quarter of 2009 pushed sales activity above annual levels for 2008.

“Sales activity in 2009 came in like a lamb and went out like a lion,” said CREA President Dale Ripplinger. “The continuation of unusually low interest rates may keep national sales activity near current levels over the coming months, as will a blip in housing demand in Ontario and British Columbia from homebuyers motivated to beat the introduction of the HST.”

Annual activity in 2009 was down 10.7 per cent from the peak reached in 2007. A total of 465,251 homes traded hands through the MLS® systems of real estate boards in Canada in 2009. This is up 7.7 per cent from 2008 levels, and represents the fourth highest level on record for annual activity.

The national residential average price was $337,410 in December, up 19 per cent year-over-year. On an annual basis, average price climbed five per cent to a record $320,333. Average prices set new annual records in a majority of local markets in 2009, and in every province except Alberta.

The large year-over-year increase in the national average price in December reflects the high degree to which it was skewed downward in late 2008 by unusually low activity in Canada’s priciest markets. The national average price was also skewed upward by rebounding activity in the spring and summer months of 2009. The national average price rose to unprecedented heights at that time, despite records having been set in only a small number of local markets.

The contribution of activity by higher priced markets toward the national average price has recently returned to more typical levels. Record level average prices in most regions are now driving the national average price to new heights.

The price trend is similar but less dramatic for the national weighted average price, which compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. It climbed 3.6 per cent in 2009.

The residential average price in Canada’s major markets was up 5.5 per cent year-over-year to $348,840 in 2009. As with the national counterpart, the price trend is similar but less dramatic for the major market weighted average price, which rose 2.3 per cent from 2008 levels.

Strong demand and headline average price gains are drawing more sellers to the market. New listings coming onto Board MLS® Systems across Canada rose to the highest level on record for the month of December, with a total of 33,090 residential properties coming on stream. This is up 4.8 per cent from December 2008, the first year-over-year gain in a year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, new listings rose by 4.7 per cent in December 2009 compared to the previous month.

The recent rising trend in new listings has not yet offset the steep decline in the number of new listings during the first half of 2009. As a result, new listings in 2009 were down 12.6 per cent from the annual peak in 2008.

Despite the recent rise in new listings, strong demand for resale housing continues to draw down inventories. There were 154,264 homes listed for sale on Boards’ MLS® Systems in Canada at the end of December 2009, a decline of 22 per cent from levels reported one year ago.

Nationally, there were 4.1 months of inventory in December 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is the lowest level in more than two years.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of months of inventory in December 2009 stood at 5.6 months, the lowest December figure since 2005, and well below the same month in 2008 (12.3 months). Although up slightly from November (five months), an increase is normal at this time of year since demand normally eases relative to supply over autumn and winter months. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

“CREA’s latest statistics will no doubt spark further bubble talk amongst the usual suspects,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “Cooler heads recognize that many of the recent gains reflect temporary factors that could fade by summer.”

“The extraordinary decline in activity one year ago and subsequent rebound, particularly for higher-priced real estate, is stretching current year-over-year comparisons,” he said. “By the second half of 2010, price gains are likely to shrink significantly, since a year will have elapsed since the decline and rebound. Klump added that, “Further expected increases in supply will also take some steam out of the market. A more balanced market will result in smaller price increases in the second half of the year, but a massive decline in demand similar to what we saw in late 2008 and early 2009 seems as unlikely as a massive spike in supply.”

To view the complete release: http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/pdfs/media_dec09.pdf

One month until the start of the 2010 Games and two western REALTORS® are ready to own the podium in Whistler.

(JANUARY 12^th) – For REALTORS® Lyndon Rush and Bret Bresciani, there are some similarities between being a top seller and being part of Canada’s winning bobsledding team. The backbone of each profession lies with teamwork.

 “Both are competitive but require cooperation with your peers to do well, “ says Lyndon Rush who sells commercial real estate in Red Deer, Alberta while piloting our country’s four-man and two-man bobsled teams. “In bobsledding, you need to network with the other teams to gain knowledge about the tracks and acquire new and better equipment. Similarly as a REALTOR®, you’re competing for customers but need to cooperate in order to serve those customers the best.”

 His teammate, residential REALTOR® Bret Bresciani agrees. “In both situations you are sometimes forced to compete against your teammate, for clients and sales—or with bobsled for a spot on the team you want to push from. But in the end you’re still on the same team.”

 And it is that teamwork that they hope will bring them to the podium in Whistler this February. Both Lyndon and Bret have taken the past year off from real estate to train for this moment, with the complete support of the REALTOR® community. Royal LePage Canada is sponsoring Lyndon’s two-man sled and both athletes’ offices are behind their efforts 100 per cent.

“The workers at my office (Calgary’s RE/MAX House of Real Estate) are watching my results and cheering me on, “ says Bret. For Lyndon, the support for pursuing his dream has come from Team Rush, which is run by his father, Jerry Rush. According to Jerry, “LD (as he is called by his family) is fortunate to be in commercial real estate where he has evenings and weekends off and it is easier to schedule regular training times. What other career could you have that would allow you such flexibility?”

 In order to qualify for the 2010 Olympics, Lyndon and Bret are currently competing in a European tour. They both hope to return in February and attend the Olympics – making Canada proud.

Final selection of the Olympic bobsled team will be made public January 27^th. Olympic bobsled competition begins on Sunday, February 21^st for the two-man sled and February 26^th for the four-man event.

About Lyndon Rush

Lyndon played football for five years at the University of Saskatchewan before receiving a call from Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton urging him to give the sport of bobsled a try. Lyndon has developed into one of the top pilots in Canada while specializing in commercial real estate for Team Rush in Red Deer, Alberta. He is married and has two daughters, Olivia and Amelia.

About Bret Bresciani

Hailing from Okotoks, Alberta, Bret chose to slide instead of play football when he began studies at the University of Calgary in 2002. He is currently part of Canada’s 2009-10 World Cup bobsled team. When he is not training on the track, he is a residential REALTOR® for the RE/MAX House of Real Estate in Calgary.