National home sales rise in March 2012
OTTAWA – April 16, 2012 – According to statistic[1]s released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity edged higher in March 2012.
Highlights:
- Home sales rose 2.5% from February to March.
- Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6% above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April.
- The number of newly listed homes eased 0.3% from February to March.
- While still well balanced, the national housing market tightened due to the rise in activity.
- The national average home price edged down 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in March.
Sales activity over MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations rose 2.5 per cent from February to March 2012. The increase lifted national activity to its highest monthly level since April 2010.
Activity in March was up from the previous month in two-thirds of all local markets, with Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton contributing most to the national increase.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6 per cent above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April. It reflects moderate gains in a number of major centres, including Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City. Increases in these housing markets offset larger declines in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where activity last year ran at unusually strong levels.
A total of 108,373 homes traded hands in the first three months of the year. This is 5.0 per cent above the five-year average for first quarter sales, 3.8 per cent above the 10-year average, and 4.4 per cent above activity in the first quarter of 2011.
New listings were little changed following their uptick in February, having edged lower by 0.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March. The number of newly listed homes declined from the previous month in just over half of all local Canadian housing markets, and rose in almost all of the remainder.
“The spring housing market is off to a good start,” said Wayne Moen, CREA’s President. “The number of sales and newly listed properties are up from levels last year, and the vast majority of housing markets remain balanced. That said, all housing is local, so buyers and sellers should talk to their local REALTOR® to understand current and prospective trends where they live.”
The national housing market remains well balanced, although the monthly increase in sales activity caused the balance between supply and demand to tighten slightly.
The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 55.1 per cent in March. This remains firmly in balanced market territory, but is up from 53.6 per cent in February. Based on a ratio of between 40 and 60 per cent, more than half of local markets were balanced in March.
The number of months of inventory stood at 5.7 at the end of March on a national basis, down slightly from 5.8 months in February. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in March 2012 was $369,677, representing a decline of one half of a percentage point from the same month last year.
“Average prices are up from year-ago levels in most large urban centres,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The slight decline in the national average price points to a tug of war between Toronto and Vancouver from the standpoint of their sales mix compared to last year.”
“The national average price was skewed higher last spring by record level high-end home sales in some of Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods. It was expected that this would not recur this spring, which the latest sales figures confirm. The decline in average price reflects the change in Vancouver’s sales mix, not housing price deflation.”
“At the same time, overall home sales activity in Toronto is stronger than it was last spring, and higher-end home sales are up from year-ago levels. Being by far the most active housing market in Canada, Toronto represents the single biggest factor supporting national average price compared to last year.”
1 All figures in this release except average price are seasonally adjusted. Removing normal seasonal variations enables meaningful analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends.
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS® sales information 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.
BC Government Raises Homeowner Grant Threshold
The B.C. government has raised the threshold for homeowner property grant to $1.285 million to accommodate rising property values.
The news comes as hundreds of thousands of annual property assessments are being prepared for B.C. property owners by the government. Last year, the threshold was $1.15 million. The grant effectively reduces the property tax paid by most B.C. homeowners by up to $1,045
Every year the province adjusts the grant to ensure 95.5 per cent of homeowners receive the full amount of the grant. Those with homes above the threshold may still be eligible for part of the grant.
"The homeowner grant provides a maximum reduction in residential property taxes on principal residences of $570 in the Capital, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts and $770 elsewhere in the province," said a statement issued by the government on Tuesday.
"An additional grant of $275 is available to those who are age 65 or over, permanently disabled or a veteran of certain wars,."
"We continue to see challenging economic times around the world. By maintaining the homeowner grant, we continue to help families with the costs of owning their homes," said Finance Minister Kevin Falcon in the statement.
The grant is only available to Canadian citizens and to landed immigrants who normally reside in B.C.
For more information regarding the homeowner grant, please contact us at 778-869-7653
REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive
November 28 - December 5, 2011
REALTORS® and real estate offices are gearing up for this year's REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive, the longest continuous blanket drive in the Lower Mainland!
In 2011, REALTORS® collected and donated enough blankets and warm clothing to directly help more than 100,000 people from Whistler to Hope and places in-between.
Needed donations
New or gently used
• blankets, sleeping bags
• warm clothing - coats, jeans, pants, sweaters
• scarves, gloves, mitts, hats
New (women, children, men)
• socks
• underwear
Please click here for a drop off location near you!
The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive story
Way back in 1995, some caring REALTORS® in Vancouver observed the homeless situation in the city’s eastside and said to themselves, we’ve got to do something.
They put out an appeal to their fellow colleagues for warm blankets and coats and collected 600 bags of donations specifically dedicated to Vancouver’s homeless in the downtown core.
That single act of kindness has blossomed into one of the largest annual collections of warm clothing and blankets, helping homeless people and the working poor in every single community in the Lower Mainland.
Fifteen years later, thousands of REALTORS® from Whistler to Chilliwack have collected more than 27,000 bags of donations. Each year, more than 75 amazingly dedicated members actually pick-up and deliver all the donations, and well over 100 real estate offices in the Lower Mainland act as collection depots.
The annual REALTORS Care® Drive now collects an astonishing 4,000 plus bags of warm, winter items on behalf of dozens of local charities.
APRIL HOME SALES RETURN TO BALANCE IN FRASER VALLEY
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,516 property sales on its Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in April, a decrease of 15 per cent compared to 1,793 sold during April of last year, and a decrease of 17 per cent compared to March’s 1,818 sales.
Sukh Sidhu, president of the Board, explains, “April’s sales are pretty typical for that month over the last two decades with the 20-year average being 1,580, but softer than what we saw earlier this year.
“The Fraser Valley market was busier than normal in February and March due in part to the tighter credit conditions that kicked in on March 18, plus you add into the mix a focus on the federal election and you get an April that trends back to normal conditions.”
However, Sidhu says certain individual markets within Fraser Valley have remained active. “For the third month in a row, sales of single detached homes in White Rock/South Surrey have accounted for almost a quarter of all detached sales in the region compared to the 15 per cent share that area typically garners.”
“Benchmark prices of detached homes in that area have increased by 11 per cent in the last three months compared to 3.9 per cent across the Fraser Valley as a whole, emphasizing the need for local expertise no matter where you’re thinking of buying or selling.”
April finished with 5 per cent more active listings on the MLS® than it had in March – 9,697 compared to 9,228 – however, 9 per cent fewer than the 10,635 listings that were active during April of 2010. The Board received 2,918 new listings in April, a decrease of 14 per cent compared to March and a decrease of 22 per cent compared to the 3,760 new listings received in April 2010.
Regarding prices, in April, the benchmark price for Fraser Valley detached homes was $525,510, an increase of 1 per cent from the April 2010 price of $520,423. The benchmark price of townhomes was $332,992 in April, an increase of 2 per cent compared to $326,367 in April 2010. The benchmark price of apartments was $252,689 in April, a 1.3 per cent increase compared to $249,453 in April 2010.
