Canada’s housing market had another record month in June as the average price jumped more than 10 per cent.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said the average cost of a home was $335,180 last month, compared to $303,472 in June last year, an increase of 10.4 per cent.
Also in June, existing home sales rose to a new seasonally adjusted high of 31,300 – up 0.3 per cent from May and 10.9 per cent from a year ago. It was the highest monthly sales level on record and the third consecutive month in which activity scaled new heights, CREA said.
Cities breaking records in June were Regina, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Montreal and Saint John.
The housing figures come a day after Bank of Canada raised interest rates for the first time in more than a year.
Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter said one of the reasons the Bank of Canada is hiking rates is due to the persistent power of the housing market.
“Comparing the Canadian housing market to the Energizer Bunny is a tempting, but weak metaphor,” Porter said in a research note Wednesday.
“Homework assignment: Compare and contrast that gain to the 8 per cent drop in U.S. existing home sales so far this year.”
Porter said with sales growing faster than new listings, there is still room for house prices to increase further “including markets which were previously more subdued, such as Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.”
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Sales surpassed all expectations in the first half of 2007 and seem headed for a full-year record despite higher interest rates and a "gradual erosion of affordability" as prices get beyond people's reach.
In June, average prices reached the highest monthly levels on record in Victoria, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Kitchener, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, the CREA report said.
The highest average prices were in Greater Vancouver ($564,702), Calgary ($427,205) and Toronto ($381,963), the report said.
Major market MLS average prices, June 2007 |
|---|
| Market | Price | Year-to-year % change |
|---|
| Calgary | $427,205 | 16.4 |
|---|
Durham Region | $271,394 | 2.1 |
|---|
Edmonton | $350,357 | 37.8 |
|---|
Halifax-Dartmouth | $225,467 | 12.0 |
|---|
Hamilton-Burlington & District | $269,676 | 7.7 |
|---|
| Kitchener-Waterloo | $256,588 | 8.5 |
|---|
| London and St. Thomas | $204,500 | 4.8 |
|---|
| Mauricie (Trois-Rivières) | $113,821 | 5.5 |
|---|
| Montreal | $235,087 | 5.4 |
|---|
| Ottawa | $279,361 | 7.3 |
|---|
| Outaouais (Hull) | $181,200 | 9.5 |
|---|
| Quebec City | $164,298 | 7.2 |
|---|
| Regina | $169,729 | 23.9 |
|---|
| Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean | $127,079 | 19.5 |
|---|
Saint John | $144,769 | 13.5 |
|---|
Saskatoon | $252,444 | 57.2 |
|---|
St. Catharines and district | $219,857 | 5.2 |
|---|
Newfoundland and Labrador | $152,641 | 15.1 |
|---|
Sudbury | $184,986 | 28.7 |
|---|
Thunder Bay | $120,150 | -7.2 |
|---|
Toronto | $381,963 | 6.7 |
|---|
Greater Vancouver | $564,702 | 11.1 |
|---|
Victoria | [not available] | [not available] |
|---|
Windsor-Essex | $164,317 | -2.0 |
|---|
| Winnipeg | $185,447 | 16.1 |
|---|
Canadian Real Estate Association
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