Tag Archives: steep losses
Canada’s housing resale market was stable in August
Lakshine Sathiyanathan, CityNews.ca
The resale housing market in Canada held relatively steady in August for the second consecutive month, according to a report by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The real estate body said in its report that home sales posted a big gain in comparison to last year, even with steady home sales in August compared with July.
The national average price for resale homes rose 7.7% to $349,916 from the same period a year ago.
For the first time this year, year-to-date sales have trumped 2010 levels but remain in line with the 10-year average, according to the association.
Toronto and Ottawa saw a monthly increase in activity while Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver saw activity somewhat decline.
The number of newly listed homes was little changed from July to August, keeping “the national housing market firmly planted in balanced territory,” the CREA said.
The national sales to new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, the CREA said, was 51.6% in August, unchanged compared with July.
As a result, the resale housing inventory, the number of months it would take to sell all homes at the current sales activity level, was 6.2 months at the end of August for the country. This is little changed from 6.1 months at the end of July, and has remained stable since April.
The CREA said there were more balanced local markets in Canada in August than at any other time on record.
In August, the Toronto Stock Exchange and major markets suffered steep losses and whether it would affect Canadian housing sales was unknown.
“The housing market in Canada remained on a firm footing in August when compared to volatile financial markets,” CREA president Gary Morse said in a release.
“Through their actions, homebuyers are showing that they remain confident about the stability of the Canadian housing market, and recognize that the continuation of low interest rates represents an excellent opportunity to buy their first home or trade up.”
According to the CREA, actual August sales – those not seasonally adjusted – were 15.8% above national levels recorded last year, making it the largest year-over-year increase since last April.
So far, 324,030 homes were sold using the CREA’s Multiple Listing Service this year.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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Housing starts climb unexpectedly in July
By Ka Yan Ng – Reuters
Canadian housing starts unexpectedly climbed 4.3 percent in July, setting third-quarter new home construction off to a strong start and maintaining its role for now as a key support to the economy.
Starts, elevated by a big jump in construction of multi-residential buildings such as condominiums, rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 205,100 units, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) said last Tuesday.
That is up from a downwardly revised 196,600 units in June, which were originally reported at 197,400 units. The median forecast of 19 analysts surveyed by Reuters was for a modest decline to 196,000 starts.
“Detracting slightly from the headline’s positive cast, this month’s gain was concentrated in the multiples segment, which tends to have a lower valued added,” said Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC World Markets.
“Today’s report and the recent resilience of both permits and sales suggest housing continues to be one of the economy’s strongest sectors, although sentiment among purchasers obviously remains vulnerable to recent market turmoil.”
Unlike the United States and many other developed countries, Canada’s housing sector has been a strong source of support for the economy, helping draw it out of the recession.
Analysts credit low interest rates and banks still willing to lend. But they also warn that recent financial market volatility could hurt consumer sentiment and hit demand for new and existing homes.
However, the turmoil could also help to keep Canadian interest and mortgage rates lower for longer. Market expectations for Canadian interest rates, as measured by overnight index swaps, show traders have actually priced in the prospect of a rate cuts by year end.
The outlook has swung wildly in recent sessions. Traders pared back bets on rate hikes on Tuesday as world stocks put the brake on steep losses. Toronto’s main stock index clawed back some of its near 9-percent drop over three sessions.
HOUSING STILL SEEN SOFTENING
The housing numbers follow other July data that has delivered mixed signals, even as investors hope for signs of underlying strength following a sickly second quarter.
“While many economic indicators have pointed to much softer growth through the summer, Canadian housing starts is not one of them, still likely responding to a firm rebound in sales activity in the second half of 2010,” said Robert Kavcic, economist at BMO Capital Markets.
But the overall pace of housing activity, from starts to resales, are seen slowing in the coming months, partly due to tighter mortgage regulations.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts was led by a 13 percent jump in multiple urban starts, such as condos, to 120,200 units. CMHC said Ontario, British Columbia and the Atlantic region showed the most strength in the multi-residential sector.
Partly due to shifting demographics, Canada has seen a boom in condominium construction which has filled the skylines of its biggest cities with cranes.
But the closely watched measure of starts of single-family homes decreased 7.8 percent in July to 65,000 units.
Economists at IHS Global Insight noted single-family new construction activity was 22.2 percent below their level last year, compared with multi-family starts, which are now at their highest level since October 2008.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 19,900 units in July.
———————————————————————————————————————
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
———————————————————————————————————————
Related posts:
- Housing starts move lower in July The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 215,600...
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- Housing starts rise in February The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by...
- Hot housing starts Housing starts reach their second highest level in nearly two...
- Housing starts climbing again Housing starts in the Toronto area bounced back in August,...
