Canadian home sales heating up with the summer weather
By Newinhomes on Jul 17, 2018
The Canadian Real Estate Association released its housing market data for June 2018, reporting a slight improvement in sales compared to May 2018.
National home sales increased 4.1% from May to June, led by the Greater Toronto Area. While the month-to-month figures were positive, sales fell 10.7% year-over-year to a five-year low for June. This is also 7% below the 10-year average.
“This year’s new stress test on mortgage applicants has been weighing on homes sales activity; however, the increase in June suggests its impact may be starting to lift,” says CREA President, Barb Sukkau. “The extent to which the stress test continues to sideline homebuyers varies by housing market and price range. All real estate is local, and REALTORS® remain your best source for information about sales and listings where you live or might like to in the future.”
“The national increase in June home sales suggests activity may indeed be starting to turn the corner,” adds Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Even so, the number of homes trading hands has a long way to go before it returns to levels posted in recent years. Looking ahead, home sales activity and price gains will likely be held in check by higher interest rates.”
New listings fell 1.8% from May to June, but national inventory was at a three-year high of 5.6 months last month. As of the end of June, inventory was at 5.4 months, still above to long-term average of 5.2 months.
The national average sale price fell 1.3% year-over-year to $496,000, with price decelerations significantly influenced by activity in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This is the fifth consecutive month the average year-over-year price has dropped.
As usual, the GTA and Vancouver heavily impacted the national average price. Remove these two areas from the equation and the average price as of the end of June 2018 was just over $389,000.
In Guelph, year-over-year price growth went up 3.5%, but fell in the GTA (down 4.8%), Oakville–Milton(down 2.9%), and Barrie and District (down 6.5%).
On a national level, apartment units saw year-over-year price growth of 11.3% and price gains for townhomes jumped 4.9%. For one-storey singles, prices dropped 1.8% and 4.1% for two-storey singles.
