CREA Releases September 2013 National Home Sales Stats
By Lucas on Oct 16, 2013
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) national home sales statistics for September 2013, national home sales in the MLS system were up by 0.8% from August to September. About 75% of the local markets saw an increase in sales in September, with Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Greater Toronto leading the way. An 0.8% increase isn’t exactly anything to write home about, but it’s better than a decrease!
Although the percentage of sales increased slightly, the number of newly listed homes decreased by 1.4% from August to September. As of the end of September 2013, there have been 340,980 home transactions this year.
“Year-over-year increases in the sales over the past couple of months highlight how activity softened across much of the country following the introduction of tighter mortgage rules last summer,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist.
“While the momentum for sales activity began improving a few months ago, it may be losing steam after having only just climbed back in line with an average of the past 10 years,” Klump added. “Even so, one can see large year-on-year changes when comparing activity to a month like September 2012, when sales dropped to the lowest level for that month in more than a decade.”
The MLS Home Price Index increased by 3.1% year-over-year in September, while the national average sale price rose a dramatic 8.8%. This puts the average sale price around $385,906 for September 2013.
If you were to remove Calgary, Greater Vancouver, and Greater Toronto from the equation, the national average sale price would only show an increase of only about 4.3%.
“Sales activity across much of the country has improved in recent months following a slow start to the year and new listings in some areas have not kept pace,” said CREA President Laura Leyser. “Depending on where they are, there may be a bit more competition among buyers for limited inventory in the months ahead.”
What does this all mean? The Canadian housing market has tightened, but remains balanced. New homebuyers still need some time to adjust to mortgage rule changes, and our bigger cities may burn through remaining inventory a bit quicker than expected.
The future is looking bright for the Canadian housing market, and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.
To read the full report, click here.
