CANADA – According to statistics recently released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales were up on a month-over-month basis in February 2017.
Highlights:
- National home sales rose 5.2% from January to February to reach the highest level since April 2016.
- Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in February was down 2.6% from a year earlier.
- The number of newly listed homes was up 4.8% from January to February.
- The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) in February was up 16% year-over-year (y-o-y).
- The national average sale price edged up 3.5% y-o-y in February.
While February sales were up from the previous month in about 70% of all local markets, the national increase was overwhelmingly driven by an increase in activity across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and environs.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 2.6% from levels for the same month last year. The decline reflects a moderation in sales in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia compared to extraordinarily elevated levels recorded one year ago. The number of newly listed homes rose 4.8% in February 2017, led by the GTA and nearby markets following a sharp drop in January.
There were 4.2 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of February 2017, down from 4.5 months in January and the lowest level for this measure in almost a decade.
By comparison, home prices were down by 1.9% y-o-y in Calgary and by 1.2% y-o-y in Saskatoon. Prices in these two markets now stand 5.6% and 5.1% below their respective peaks reached in 2015.
Home prices were up modestly from year-ago levels in Regina (+3.5%), Ottawa (+3.8%), Greater Montreal (+3.3% y-o-y) and Greater Moncton (+1.2%).
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in February 2017 was $519,521, up 3.5% from where it stood one year earlier.
The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which remain two of Canada’s tightest, most active and expensive housing markets.
That said, Greater Vancouver’s share of national sales activity has diminished considerably over the past year, giving it less upward influence on the national average price. The average price is reduced by almost $150,000 to $369,728 if Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto sales are excluded from calculations.
