CANADA – According to statistics recently released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales were up on a month-over-month basis in March 2017.
Highlights include:
- National home sales rose 1.1% from February to March;
- Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in March was up 6.6% from a year earlier;
- The number of newly listed homes climbed 2.5% from February to March.
The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) was up 18.6% year-over-year (y-o-y) in March 2017; and - The national average sale price increased by 8.2% y-o-y in March.
Home sales over Canadian MLS Systems edged up 1.1% in March 2017, surpassing the previous monthly record set in April 2016 by one-quarter of a percent.
March sales were up from the previous month in more than half of all local markets, led by the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, London & St. Thomas and Montreal.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in March was up 6.6% year-over-year, with gains in close to 75% of all local markets. Sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) posted the biggest increase, which offset a decline in the number of homes changing hands in Greater Vancouver.
The number of newly listed homes rose 2.5% in March 2017, led by gains in the GTA, Calgary, Edmonton and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
With new listings having climbed by more than sales, the national sales-to-new listings ratio eased to 67.4% in March compared to 68.3% in February.
A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively.
The Aggregate Composite MLS HPI rose by 18.6% y-o-y in March 2017. Price gains accelerated for all benchmark housing categories tracked by the index.
Prices for two-storey single family homes posted the strongest year-over-year gains (+21%), followed closely by townhouse/row units (+17.9%), one-storey single family homes (16.6%) and apartment units (16.3%).
For additional statistics and analysis, please visit the following link.