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Ottawa, ON, December 15, 2015 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales were up on a month-over-month basis in November 2015.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose by 1.8% from October to November.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 10.9% compared to November 2014.
• The number of newly listed homes was up 3.1% from October to November.
• The Canadian housing market remains balanced overall.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 7.1% year-over-year in November.
• The national average sale price rose 10.2% on a year-over-year basis in November; excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, it increased by 3.4%.

The number of homes trading hands via MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations rose by 1.8 percent in November 2015 compared to October to reach its highest monthly level in six years.

There was a fairly even split between the number of markets where sales posted a monthly increase and those where sales declined. The national increase was again led by monthly sales gains in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

“Recently announced changes to mortgage regulations will likely boost sales activity in the short term, as buyers jump off the fence to beat the changes before they take effect next year,” said CREA President Pauline Aunger. “Even so, some housing markets stand to be affected by the changes more than others. All real estate is local, and REALTORS® remain your best source for information about sales and listings where you live or might like to in the future.”

“Changes to mortgage regulations taking effect in mid-February next year appear aimed at cooling the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto housing markets,” said said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Minimum down payments will be going up for homes that sell for more than half a million dollars, so larger more expensive housing markets will be affected most. Unfortunately, the regulatory changes will also cause unintended collateral damage to housing markets beyond Toronto and Vancouver, including places that are facing economic headwinds from the collapse in oil prices.”

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales in November 2015 rose 10.9 percent on a year-over-year basis compared to November 2014 and were up from year-ago levels in two-thirds of all local markets. The increase was again led by the Lower Mainland and GTA. Activity was down sharply in the Calgary region compared to what were historically high levels posted prior to the collapse in oil prices.

The number of newly listed homes rose 3.1 percent in November compared to October, led by the Lower Mainland, Calgary, Edmonton, Kingston and Ottawa.

The national sales-to-new listings ratio eased to 57.3 percent in November compared to 58 percent in October. A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 percent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively.

The ratio was within this range in slightly fewer than half of all local housing markets in November. Of the remainder, more markets recorded a ratio above 60 percent than fell below 40 percent. Markets where demand is tight relative to supply are located almost exclusively in British Columbia and Ontario.

The number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

There were 5.4 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of November 2015, down from the 5.5 months recorded in October and the lowest level in nearly six years. The national figure is being pulled lower by increasing market tightness in B.C. and Ontario.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI rose by 7.11 percent on a year-over-year basis in November – the largest gain in over five years. Year-over-year price growth accelerated for all property types tracked by the index.

Two-storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year-over-year price gains (+8.88 percent), followed by one-storey single family homes (+6.42 percent), townhouse/row units (+5.43 percent) and apartment units (+5.22 percent).

Year-over-year price growth varied among housing markets tracked by the index. Greater Vancouver (+17.83 percent) and the Fraser Valley (+12.36 percent) posted the largest gains, followed closely by Greater Toronto (+10.29 percent).

By comparison, Victoria and Vancouver Island prices saw year-over-year gains that ranged between six and eight percent in November.

Prices edged down by about two percent on a year-over-year basis in Calgary and Saskatoon and fell by nearly five percent in Regina. While the home price declines in Calgary and Saskatoon are a fairly recent trend, prices in Regina have been trending lower since early 2014.

Prices edged higher on a year-over-year basis in Ottawa (+0.68 percent), rose modestly in Greater Montreal (+1.61 percent) and continued to gain strength in Greater Moncton (+4.81 percent).

The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) provides a better gauge of price trends than is possible using averages because it is not affected by changes in the mix of sales activity the way that average price is.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in November 2015 was $456,186, up 10.2 percent on a year-over-year basis.

The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which are among Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets. If these two markets are excluded from calculations, the average is a more modest $338,969 and the year-over-year gain is reduced to 3.4 percent. Even then, the gain reflects a tug of war between strong average price gains in housing markets around the GTA and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia versus flat or declining average prices elsewhere in Canada. If British Columbia and Ontario are excluded from calculations, the average price slips even lower to $302,477, representing a year-over-year decline of 4.7 percent.

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PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 109,000 REALTORS® working through some 90 real estate Boards and Associations.

Further information can be found at http://crea.ca/statistics.

For more information, please contact:

Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca

Ottawa, ON, March 13, 2015- According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity edged up slightly on month-over-month basis in February 2015.

Highlights:

• National home sales edged up 1.0% from January to February.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 2.7% above February 2014 levels.
• The number of newly listed homes fell 2.5% from January to February.
• The Canadian housing market remains balanced.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 5.01% year-over-year in February.
• The national average sale price rose 6.3% on a year-over-year basis in February.

The number of home sales processed through the MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate

Boards and Associations rose by one per cent in February 2015 compared to January.

The monthly increase was led by Greater Vancouver, the Okanagan region, and Greater Toronto. Gains there offset sales declines elsewhere, with more than half of all local markets having posted weaker sales in February compared to January.

“A number of buyers across the Prairies stayed on the sidelines in February,” said CREA President Beth Crosbie. “That’s likely to remain an important part of the national housing story until the outlook for oil prices starts improving. Meanwhile, home sales in British Columbia and much of Ontario are improving, which underscores the fact that all real estate is local. Nobody knows this better than your local REALTOR®, who remains your best source for information about the housing market where you currently live or might like to in the future.”

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in February stood 2.7 per cent above levels reported in the same month last year, but remained five per cent below the 10-year average for the month of February.

“Sales came in below the ten-year average for the month of February in two-thirds of all local markets,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “That said, the opposite was true in a few large urban markets in British Columbia and Ontario despite a shortage of listings there, which is fuelling prices higher.”

The number of newly listed homes fell 2.5 per cent in February compared to January, led by Greater Vancouver, the Okanagan region, and Calgary. New listings in Calgary have retreated in recent months after having climbed sharply toward the end of last year.

The national sales-to-new listings ratio was 52.2 per cent in February. With sales up and new listings down, this marked an increase from 50.4 per cent in January.

A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 per cent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings above and below this range indicating sellers’ and buyers’ markets respectively. The ratio was within this range in more than half of all local markets in February.

The number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

There were 6.4 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of February 2015, down from 6.5 months in January. Both the sales-to-new listings ratio and months of inventory measures continue to point to a balanced market at the national level.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI rose by 5.01 per cent on a year-over-year basis in February. Price gains have held steady between five and five-and-a-half per cent for more than a year.

Year-over-year price growth decelerated in February for all Aggregate Benchmark housing types tracked by the index except two-storey single family homes, which again posted the biggest year-over-year price gain (+6.63 per cent).

This was followed by townhouse/row units (+4.44 per cent) and one-storey single family homes (+4.34 per cent). Price growth remained more modest for apartment units (+2.77 per cent).

Price gains varied among housing markets tracked by the index. Greater Toronto (+7.84 per cent), Greater Vancouver (+6.38 per cent) and Calgary (+5.96 per cent) posted the biggest year-over-year increases. Even so, the increase in Calgary was far smaller than gains posted last year and the smallest since December 2012.

In other markets from West to East, prices were up compared to year-ago levels by between two and two-and-a-half per cent in the Fraser Valley, Victoria, and Vancouver Island, while holding steady in Saskatoon, Ottawa, and Greater Montreal, and falling in Regina and Greater Moncton.

The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) provides a better gauge of price trends than is possible using averages because it is not affected by changes in the mix of sales activity the way that average price is.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in February 2015 was $431,812, up 6.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

The national average home price remains skewed by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which are among Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets. Excluding these two markets from the calculation, the average price is a relatively more modest $326,910 and the year-over-year gain shrinks to just 1.5 per cent.