Search results matching tags 'Canada housing statistics' and 'Market Conditions'

Toronto real estate. TORONTO REAL ESTATE MARKET CONTINUE TO SURPRISE

31323 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:23:00 GMT

Toronto housing starts have risen for three months in a row, CMHC says in a report released this week.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts rose 13% in October from the month prior, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says, to a total of 34,200 units. Single-detached starts have remained stable, but condo starts have once again started to inch ahead. But those figures are still well below the starts posted in October 2008.

For Ontario, starts in urban areas (those with a population of 10,000 and up) rose to their highest level since March, reaching 55,700 units, a gain of almost 15% from September, but still almost 20% below the same period last year.

Perhaps it was those uncharacteristically high temperatures that had homebuyers out in droves in the first two weeks of November. Certainly, they had gotten over the doom and gloom of the first two weeks of last November.

According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, realtors reported 3,666 sales, a staggering 84% up on the same period last year. Prices year-over-year rose a more modest, but still impressive, 10% to hit an average of $415,066.

“Increased interest in ownership housing has been widespread throughout the GTA and across all housing types,” notes TREB president Tom Lebour in a release. “However, it is important to point out that we are now making comparisons to the fall of 2008 when we experienced a marked decline in sales and average price.”

The numbers for year-to-date sales also rose a healthy 11% compared with the same period in 2008, to reach 78,233. The average price for this period was $393,180 a 3% rise over the same period last year.

“Sales and average price in the GTA this winter will be well above levels reported throughout the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009,” notes Jason Mercer, TREB’s senior manager of market analysis in a release.

Across Canada, sales had increased in the month of October. According to numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association, home sales activity through the Multiple Listing Service was the highest ever for an October. The Canadian real estate boards reported 42,288 residential sales, a 41.5% hike over the same month last year. The year-to-date total rose to 401,124, a 1.6% increase on the same period last year.

The average sale price in October was $341,079, a 20.7% rise on last year.

“Low interest rates and upbeat consumer confidence continue to release the pent-up demand that built late last year and earlier this year,” notes CREA president Dale Ripplinger in a release. “The release of that pent-up demand has boosted national sales activity to new heights and is drawing down inventories.”

The marked rise in resale housing demand has continued to reduce inventories of unsold homes. In October, MLS had 194,994 homes listed for sale, down 20.8% on the same month last year.

New homes in the GTA’s 905 region have also skyrocketed, with home builders showing a 173% increase in low-rise sales for the month, compared with October 2008.

Activity may have been on the rise in Canada, but south of the border where tentative signs of recovery had been evident, October housing starts and building permit numbers came as a rather nasty shock.

If you want to know more about Toronto real estate, call sales representative and mortgage agent Alexandre (Alex) Malkhassiants, Right at Home realty, with all your questions: (416) 723-9383 (cell).

Toronto real estate. TORONTO HOUSING MARKET IS RECOVERING

31323 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:13:00 GMT

According Canadian Real Estate Association housing prices are recovering, with the average resale price in May – skewed by an increase in sales activity in the country's most expensive markets – reaching the highest level on record.

“National resale housing market activity returned to pre-recession levels in May, 2009. The rebound in activity is being led by an increase in transactions in some of the most expensive markets in the country, which is skewing the national average price upward,” CREA said

“The biggest contributors in monthly activity in May compared to April were Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver and those are among some of the more expensive [markets] in Canada,” CREA's chief economist Gregory Klump said in an interview.

The national average resale price of $319,757 “was up four-tenths of a percentage point from the previous record set in May, 2008,” CREA said.

CREA reported that, over the past four months, “the national …residential average price has recovered 16.4 per cent from the low in January.”

On a seasonally adjusted basis, CREA reported that 37,649 homes changed hands in May – the fourth consecutive monthly increase. This was down 2.2 per cent from May, 2008, as the year-over-year rate of decline moderated.

Mr. Klump characterized the pickup in real estate market activity as more than the typical spring bounce.

There has been a “much-stronger-than-normal seasonal increase in activity, and that's driving up seasonally-adjusted activity for sure,” Mr. Klump said.

The number of new listings is down 19 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a year earlier, restoring some balance to the market, CREA added.

“Strengthening consumer confidence, low interest rates and improved affordability are drawing buyers into the housing market across Canada,” CREA president Dale Ripplinger, a Regina real estate broker, said in a statement.

Mr. Klump said 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.

“The supply of homes up for sale needs to be drawn down further before average price increases become more widespread among local markets,” Mr. Klump said.

“The more expensive markets in Canada that dove at the end of last year and skewed the average price lower… are recovering and, because those are higher-priced markets, that's skewing the average back up,” Mr. Klump said.

Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Millan Mulraine said that, over all, the report on May resale activity “was a very favourable report on the state of the Canadian housing market, as it suggests that the buoyancy in home sales since the turn of the year has been sustained…

“This could be an early indication that the correction in the Canadian housing market may be nearing an end,” Mr. Mulraine said in a research note.

Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter said the housing market, while healthier than it had been, is not in full recovery mode yet.

“Low borrowing costs, more affordable prices in many markets and some pent-up demand after the fall/winter sales freeze have provided some heavy duty support for housing,” Mr. Porter said in a research note.

“However, even with these positives, further gains will be much tougher to come by, especially with employment continuing to sag,” he said.

“The housing market is not about to go off to the races, even if it has been pulled back from the brink.”

NOW IS A GREAT TIME FOR 1 ST-TIME TORONTO AND GTA BUYERS

31323 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:07:00 GMT

When the Toronto and GTA housing market was hot, bidding wars forced many buyers to put in offers without conditions to increase their chances of being accepted. This, combined with unprecedented increases in home prices, scared many first-time buyers out of the market.

But the economic downturn changed all that. As housing prices fell and lenders lowered their mortgage rates to attract borrowers, the Toronto market became much more attractive to people looking to buy their first homes.

The average mortgage payment has fallen by one-third or $600 a month from its peak.

We expect resale prices to fall moderately further this year. We look for the housing market to correct further this year but not crash. And the average time it took to sell a home in Toronto dropped from 45 days in February to 39 days in March.

There's a fair amount of evidence out there that the market has bottomed and is starting to come back. The best time to buy is now!

If you want to know more about Toronto and GTA real estate market, call Alex at (416) 723-9383.