Canadian property sales up for fourth month in a row

The CREA’s report shows that sales improved in two-thirds of all local markets in June 2013, with the biggest growth recorded in Victoria, Greater Vancouver, Montreal and the Fraser Valley. Activity is now 11 per cent above February 2013.

“For the second month in a row, sales improved in the majority of local markets. Whether those gains reflect temporary factors or a fundamental improvement after a slow start to the year really depends on where you are,” commented CREA president Laura Leyser.

With rising sales come rising prices too: the average sales price of property in Canada is now $386,585, 4.8 per cent higher than June 2012.

For two-storey single family homes, values climbed 3 per cent annually, although it slowed for all other property types tracked by the CREA index. One-storey single family homes saw prices jump 3.1 per cent year-on-year, while townhouses and terraced property saw prices rise 1.6 per cent and apartments 0.4 per cent.

Gregory Klump, CREA Chief Economist, attributed the rise to buyers with pre-approved mortgages in the face of increasing interest rates: “If fixed mortgage rates continue holding where they are or edge slightly higher, sales may ebb over the summer and early autumn, with slightly higher borrowing costs picking up where the finance minister left off last year to keep the housing market in check.”

“Just as declines in the national average price at this time last year reflected a drop in sales activity in some of Canada’s most expensive housing markets, much of the increase in the national average price in May and June can be attributed to recovering demand in those same markets, particularly Greater Vancouver,” Klump added.