June 29, 2009
Spring rebound in Canadian resale housing market
The Canadian resale housing market experienced a rebound in May, returning to pre-recession levels with an increase in transactions in some of the nation’s most expensive markets.
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), seasonally-adjusted home sales rose eight per cent to 37,649 units in May compared to April. This is a 43 per cent increase from January 2009 and marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase in seasonally- adjusted activity.
“Strengthening consumer confidence, low interest rates, and improved affordability are drawing buyers to the housing market across Canada,” said CREA president Dale Ripplinger.
It was gains in major cities that contributed most to the overall increase in monthly activity: Toronto was up nine per cent; Calgary 25 per cent; Montreal 10 per cent; Vancouver eight per cent and Edmonton 12 per cent.
Meanwhile, the national residential average sale price in May reached the highest monthly level on record: $319,757, up slightly from the previous record set in May 2008.
CREA says it’s this strong rebound in sales activity in Canada’s most expensive markets that is responsible for the jump in average prices nationally, not an increase in the prices themselves.
Over the past four months, the national residential average price has recovered 16.4 per cent from the January low, climbing to new heights nationally, and in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Meanwhile, the supply of homes coming onto the market continued to decelerate in May. Seasonally adjusted new residential listings in May were down 19 per cent from the peak reached one year ago.
National sales activity as a percentage of new listings reached the highest point since December 2007, climbing 10 per cent from the previous month to $11.4 billion in May — more than 50 per cent above the low of $7.5 billion reported last January.
“Inventory levels are still high in many markets, but fewer new listings and rising sales activity suggests that the selection of homes available for sale may shrink as the year progresses,” said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.
“The supply of homes up for sale needs to be drawn down further before average price increases become more widespread among local markets.”
| MOST POPULAR STORIES |
- Government should be more flexible with stimulus project deadline, outgoing ORBA president says
- Prime site moves from contamination to condo in Cambridge, Ontario
- Mine tower largest steel project ever undertaken by Gorf Contracting
- Concrete from Giants Stadium demolition to be buried on site
- McGuinty: We can’t take our foot off ‘public dollar gas pedal’ too quickly
- 20 Most Popular Stories
| TODAY’S TOP CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS |
These projects have been selected from 350 projects with a total value of $6,260,468,758 that Reed Construction Data Building Reports reported on yesterday.
$98,000,000 Toronto ON Negotiated
CONDOMINIUM APARTMENT BUILDING
$89,000,000 Toronto ON Negotiated
$50,000,000 Toronto ON Negotiated
| CURRENT STORIES |
- Work continues on Pearl Condos in Toronto
- ‘A good first step forward,’ Canadian construction industry says of U.S. stimulus agreement
- What the latest U.S., Canada GDP numbers mean for the recovery
- Steel provides structure for historic hotel revival in Port Hope, Ontario
- Government should be more flexible with stimulus project deadline, outgoing ORBA president says
- Ontario businesses scramble to ready for arrival of HST
- Construction continues on Atira Women’s Resource Society housing project in Vancouver
- Five still unaccounted for after Connecticut power plant explosion
- U.S. manufacturing employment up, but construction losses continue
- Peterborough Utilities unveils plan for 10-megawatt wind farm
- China orders local governments to pay workers on private sites
- New deal allows Canadian construction firms to bid on U.S. stimulus projects
- Construction continues on Canadian Natural Resource office in St. Albert, Alberta
- Canadian Construction Association summit zeroes in on industry concerns
- Art Gallery of Alberta addition showcases steel
- 5,000-room modular lodging project taking shape near Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Five-year forecast looking up for British Columbia construction industry
- Saskatchewan gets new natural gas trades training centre
- B.C. permit numbers rise while Alberta’s fall
- Trades lack LEED understanding
- Nexen, OPTI Canada get approval for cogeneration power plant near Fort McMurray
- Aecon wins $22 million in contracts for steam generators
- SNC-Lavalin partners with Russian bank to form engineering company
| ALEX’S ECONOMICS BLOG |
Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in the North American economic environment with emphasis on the construction industry.
- A review of some global economic and policy expectations for 2010 (February 3, 2010)
- Synopsis of RCD’s webinar on the economic and construction outlooks (January 28, 2010)
- Increasing signs of world and U.S. economies getting back on track (January 28, 2010)
- More
