The Canadian housing market continues its healthy upward trend across the country, with significant increase in both number of sales and sale value. This trend is expected to continue through to early Spring as we approach the  upcoming changes to mortgage qualification rules.

Buyers in Ontario and British Columbia  are aware of two key changes that could impact their purchasing ability. The new mortgage rules coming in April, plus the Harmonized Sales Tax in July.

“The upcoming changes to mortgage qualification rules and impending mortgage rate increases may prompt some buyers to enter the market earlier and cause some additional slowdown in the third quarter,” said Larry Westergard, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton.

Below is a brief summary of sales activities in some areas across the country:

Ontario - A Great Start to 2010 for Ontario Housing Market

Toronto, March 3, 2010 -  Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,291 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, representing a 77% increase over February 2009. The average price for these transactions was up 19% year-over-year to $431,509. Sales and average price increases represent both increased demand for ownership housing and the base year effect, which involves a comparison of economic recovery this year to a period of economic decline last year.

“Increases in existing home sales and average price were noted across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in low-rise and high-rise home types. Similar rates of growth were experienced in the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Tom Lebour. “This suggests that first time, move-up and down sizing buyers are all active in the existing home marketplace.”

New listings also increased in February, climbing 24% compared to the same month last year.

“Annual growth in new listings is expected to continue. New listings growth will start to outstrip sales growth as we move through 2010,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “As the market becomes better supplied, we will see more sustainable single-digit rates of price growth.”

Ottawa, March 5, 2010 - Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,118 residential properties in February through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 787 in February 2009, an increase of 42.1%.

Of those sales, 323 were in the condominium property class, while 795 were in the residential property class.

“Last month’s sales were near the top of the usual range for this time of year, as opposed to February of 2009, which was the end of the brief slowdown we saw in Ottawa’s resale housing market due to global economic conditions,” said Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) President Pierre de Varennes. “So far in 2010, OREB Members have sold 1,838 properties, putting us well ahead of the 1,316 properties sold in the first two months of 2009. Inventory remains low and the homes that are listed are selling quickly, keeping Ottawa in a seller’s market for the moment,” he added.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in February in the Ottawa area was $317,030, an increase of 15.8% over February 2009. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $265,938, an increase of 30.3% over February 2009. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $337,788, an increase of 15.6% over February 2009.

British Columbia – Stronger than expected Fraser Valley home sales during Olympics 

Surrey, March 2, 2010 – Not even the most engaging Olympics in Canadian history could completely slow the appetite for house hunting, according to the most recent statistics from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

The Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) recorded 1,204 sales in February, an increase of 23% over January’s sales and an increase of 77% over the 682 sales during February of last year.

Deanna Horn, president of the Board explains, “Although the phones were quieter and we did experience less traffic at open houses, we were surprisingly busy given how much everyone, including REALTORS® were enjoying the Games.”

“Buyers are aware of two key changes that could impact their purchasing ability. The new mortgage rules coming in April, plus the Harmonized Sales Tax in July, so the ‘Olympic effect’ we were expecting wasn’t as deep.”

The Board’s MLS® received 2,879 new listings in February, an average of 144 per business day, providing buyers with 14% more selection than they had the previous month. The number of active listings in February was 8,485, 12% fewer than were available during February last year.

Horn adds that the combined strength of listings and sales currently is stabilizing Fraser Valley home prices. “Overall, we’ve seen modest price gains for the last three months. The benchmark price for all residential types combined increased less than 1% from January to February.

“When you have a healthy level of inventory, it puts less upward pressure on prices and creates a stable, balanced market.”

In February, the benchmark price for Fraser Valley detached homes was $508,136, an increase of 11.3% from the February 2009 price of $456,683.

The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses in February was $324,708, a 9.8% increase compared to $295,731 in February 2009. The benchmark price of apartments increased by 7.8% year-over-year going from $228,091 in February 2009 to $245,879 in February 2010.

Alberta - Stability in Edmonton Housing Market continues through February

Edmonton, March 2, 2010 -  Prices for residential property sold through the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service® changed marginally through February. Sales activity, however, was up dramatically when compared to last month or the same month last year.
 
The average single family dwelling price was $369,573 for February up just 1.4% from January; 5.6% from a year ago. Condominium prices dipped 3.8% in the month from $240,686 to $231,530. Duplex and rowhouse prices were up 3.3% to $315,390.

“While prices remained stable through February the increase in sales activity indicates that there is a demand for housing in the Edmonton area,” said Larry Westergard, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “Listings also increased in February leading to a bigger month end inventory of homes and relaxing concerns that inventory may be too low to handle the spring buying season.”

In February, housing sales were up 33.9% compared to January with 1,184 residential sales. Total residential sales were also up 7.6% from last February. There were 2,505 residential listings added during the month resulting in a 47% sales-to-listing ratio and a month-end inventory of 5,449 homes. The average days-on-market was down 10 to just 47 days.

Total sales through the Edmonton MLS® System (including residential, commercial and rural properties) in February were valued at $416 million (up 10.5% from last year).

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Information in this report is collected from the Real Estate Boards operating in each area. The average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.