CREA News

OTTAWA – February 15th, 2011 – National resale housing activity climbed further in January 2011, according to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity rose 4.5 per cent in January 2011 compared to the previous month, reaching the highest level since April 2010. Led by Vancouver and Toronto, seasonally adjusted sales activity posted monthly gains in more than half of all local Canadian markets in January. National sales activity has improved steadily since last summer, and now stands almost 25 per cent above the low point reached in July 2010.

 We anticipated the recent announcement of tighter mortgage regulations, which will come into effect this March, would pull forward sales activity into the first quarter of 2011, particularly in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The sharp rise in sales activity in Toronto following the announcement provides early evidence confirming this,” said Klump.

 It will take some time before the longer term impact of the latest mortgage regulations on the housing market can be known,” said Georges Pahud, CREA’s President. “For that reason, further action shouldn’t be taken until the impact can be measured. In the meantime, if last year can be used as any guide, sales activity may heat up further as we get closer to the date on which tighter mortgage regulations come into effect, especially in some of Canada’s pricier markets. That said, local housing market trends often diverge from national trends, so buyers and sellers should consult their local REALTOR^® to understand how the market is shaping up where they live.”

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) national sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards came in 6.6 per cent below levels in January 2010. This was the smallest year-over-year decline since May 2010.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) new listings on Canadian MLS^® Systems normally post their biggest month-over-month increase in January. January 2011 was no exception, marking the first time since 2007 that new listings more than doubled in January compared to the previous month. As a result, seasonally adjusted new listings rose 3.9 per cent from December levels, the largest monthly gain since March 2010.

Sales activity has been on the rise and prices have been stable since last autumn, so CREA had been expecting potential sellers who shied away from the market last summer to begin listing their properties in early 2011. Because sales activity and new supply rose in tandem in January, the national resale housing market remained balanced. The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 55.7 per cent in January 2011, which is little changed from the previous two months. Just over half of local markets in Canada were in balanced market territory in January.

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 is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. The seasonally adjusted number of months of inventory stood at 5.5 months at the end of January on a national basis. This is the lowest level since last March.

About two-thirds of local markets recorded year-over-year gains in average price in January 2011. The national average price for homes sold in January 2011 was $343,675. While this is little changed compared to the previous three months, it represents an increase of 4.5 per cent compared to January 2010. 

Much of the year-over-year gain in January 2011 resulted from a jump in the number of multi-million dollar home sales in  a couple of areas in Greater Vancouver, the effects of which were amplified at the local, provincial, and national levels by the fact that actual monthly volumes for sales activity are low in January compared to other months.

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS^® sales information 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 neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS^® is a co-operative marketing system 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, representing more than 100,000 REALTORS^® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

Further information can be found at:
http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/media.htm

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For more information, please contact:

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

OTTAWA – February 8, 2011 – The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revised its 2011 forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations, and extended it to 2012.

Sales in the second half of 2010 rebounded faster than CREA had previously expected. “The hand-off going into 2011, together with the highs and lows for sales activity posted in 2010, provided guidance for CREA’s revised forecast,” said Gregory Klump, CREA Chief Economist.

“Home buyers recognize that low mortgage interest rates represent a once in a lifetime opportunity. At the same time, they expect that rates will rise, so they’re doing their homework in order to understand what it could mean in terms of higher mortgage payments down the road before they make an offer,” said Georges Pahud, CREA President. “The housing market and buyer psychology is different now than it was at the beginning of last year, so buyers and sellers would do well to consult their REALTOR® to understand local market trends.”

The upward revision to CREA’s forecast for 2011 reflects recent improvements in the consensus economic outlook and a further expected improvement in consumer confidence. National sales activity is now expected to reach 439,900 units in 2011, representing an annual decline of 1.6 per cent. In 2012, CREA forecasts that national sales activity will rebound by three per cent to 453,300 units, which is roughly on par with the ten year average.

“Recent additional changes to mortgage regulations will further ensure that buyers don’t buy more home than they can afford when interest rates inevitably rise,” said Klump. “The announcement of the new changes to mortgage regulations will likely bring forward some sales into the first quarter that would have otherwise occurred later in the year, particularly in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets. This is expected to produce a milder version of the volatility in sales activity that we saw last year which resulted from additional transitory factors.”

Three transitory factors contributed to volatility in sales activity last year: changes in mortgage regulations announced last February, the early withdrawal by the Bank of Canada of its conditional commitment to keep interest rates on hold until the second half of 2010, and the introduction of the HST in BC and Ontario during the summer of 2010.

CREA expects that home sales activity will gain traction after dipping in the second quarter as the economic recovery and job growth continue, incomes grow, and consumer confidence further improves. “Even though mortgage interest rates are expected to rise later this year, they will still be within short reach of current levels and remain supportive for housing market activity. Strengthening economic fundamentals will keep the housing market in balance, which will keep home prices stable,” said Klump.

The national average home price is forecast to rise 1.3 per cent in 2011 and 2012, to $343,300 and $347,900 respectively. Average price is expected to rise modestly in most provinces, reflecting the continuation of a healthy balance between supply of, and demand for, homes listed for sale. Although the supply of new listings is expected to trend higher, the expected continuation of sellers’ market conditions in Manitoba is forecast to result in a bigger percentage increase in average price in 2011 and 2012 compared to other provinces.

For more information, please contact:

Pierre Leduc, Media relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
613-237-7111 or 613 884-1460
Email: pleduc@crea.ca

* Provincial weighted average price for Quebec; does not affect unweighted national average price calculations. Information on Quebec’s weighted average price calculation can be found at:
http://www.fciq.ca/immobilier-economiste.php

About The Canadian Real Estate Association

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 100,000 real estate Brokers/agents and salespeople working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.