Canadian home sales increased by 1.8 per cent from September to October, according to statistics recently released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). As a result, national sales activity neared peak levels recorded earlier in 2015 and reached the second-highest monthly level in almost six years.
The markets were evenly split between those with sales increases and those with declines. The national increase was guided by monthly sales gains in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and surrounding regions.
“October extended resale housing market trends of recent months,” said Gregory Klump, CREA chief economist, in a press release. “Single detached homes continue to be in short supply while demand for them remains strong in a number of active and populous housing markets in British Columbia and Ontario. Meanwhile, an ample supply of condo apartments remains. The balance between supply and demand is generally tighter for single detached homes than it is for condo apartments and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. For that reason, price gains for single detached homes should continue to outstrip those for condo apartment units for some time.”
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity increased by 0.1 per cent compared to October 2014, when it reached the second-highest level on record for the month of October.
The number of newly-listed homes increased by 0.9 per cent between September and October of this year. The national sales-to-new listings ratio was 57.9 per cent in October, indicating the housing market remains balanced overall.
The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) grew by 6.7 per cent year-over-year in October, slightly less than the 6.9 per cent increase seen in September. Year-over-year price growth lessened in October for one- and two-storey single family homes and increased in townhouse and apartment units.
Two-storey single family homes are showing the largest year-over-year price gains of 8.67 per cent, followed by single-storey family homes increasing by 6.02 per cent. Townhouse/row units saw price increases of 4.88 per cent, while apartment units saw the smallest price increases at 4.39 per cent.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales price increased by 8.3 per cent year-over-year to $454,976 in October. However, when excluding the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto areas, the national average sales price increased by 2.5 per cent to $339,059.
