Housing markets across British Columbia saw an additional 16,400 new listings added in June 2022, representing a 5.5% increase, compared to same time last year.
“Sales activity continues to slow in the face of rising interest rates and uncertainty,” said Jill Oudil, Chair of CREA.
The year may still be well over a month from done, but Canada’s home sales have already broken the annual record.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released its monthly national home sales statistics on Monday, revealing that Canada’s sales have already surpassed those of 2020 — the previous record holder for the most sales in one year.
“Twenty-twenty-one continues to surprise,” said CREA’s Senior Economist Shaun Cathcart. “Sales beat last year’s annual record by about Thanksgiving weekend, so that was always a lock, but I don’t think too many observers would have guessed the monthly trend would be moving up again heading into 2022.”
CREA
According to the report, the number of newly listed homes across Canada rose 3.2% from September to October. The sales-to-new listings ratio also rose, up to 79.5% from September’s 75.5%, illustrating an ongoing tightening of the market.
“A month with more new listings is what allows for more sales because those listings are mostly all still getting gobbled up; however, with demand that strong, the supply of homes for sale at any given point in time continues to shrink,” Cathcart said. “It is at its lowest point on record right now, which is why it’s not surprising prices are also re-accelerating. We need to build more housing.
Significant price growth has been seen all across the country. Year-over-year price growth in BC is up above 20%, and in Ontario, it’s closing in on a whopping 30%. In Quebec, Greater Montreal’s year-over-year prices are up over 20%, and Quebec City’s are up 13$.
Alberta and Saskatchewan’s growth is slightly smaller, sitting in the mid-to-high single digits. Meanwhile, Manitoba’s is up roughly 10%.
As we head into the last few months of 2021, housing market activity across Canada continues to stabilize, though demand remains high.
House price growth in Canada is out of control, and the chief economist at the country’s real estate association says that won’t change until the pandemic lets up, and more people list their homes for sale.
The average resale price for all property types in January was $621,525, up 22.8 per cent from a year ago, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said Tuesday.
The number of home sales was up 35.2 per cent from a year ago, to the highest total for a January on record. Meanwhile, new listings plunged 13.5 per cent nationally, and by around 35 per cent in Toronto and Montreal, creating a record shortage of available homes.
“There were only 1.9 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of January 2021 – the lowest reading on record for this measure,” the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a statement, adding that some 35 Ontario markets have less than one month of inventory.
In Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I., the ratio of sales to new listings was above 100 in January.
“This means that there were more sales than new units listed last month in these provinces. This is a rare situation, but has occurred before in the Atlantic provinces. However, January marked a first on this front in Quebec,” TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi wrote in a client note.
Sales-to-new-listings ratios were also very high in Ontario and Manitoba, bringing the national ratio to 90.7, its highest level in 19 years.
Economists credit record-low interest rates with spurring the homebuying boom. Even as prices have soared, monthly mortgage payments have fallen, making home ownership more affordable ― at least for those who can save up the record-high down payment needed to afford a home today.
“A big surge in supply is what so many markets really need this year to get people into the homes they want, and to keep prices from accelerating any more than they already are,” CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart said in a statement Tuesday.
“We’re unlikely to see a rush of listings until the weather and public health situations improve, and we won’t see buyers until those homes come up for sale.”
TD’s Sondhi predicts that “with sales likely running above fundamentally-supported levels… some cooling in activity will take place, especially in the second half (of the year).”
The latest round of changes to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program broaden its reach by allowing entities that use the cash method of accounting to use accrual-based accounting to calculate their revenues. This is one of the changes that the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) had advocated for to make the program accessible to more brokerages.
CEWS has also been extended until December 19, 2020, another change advocated for by CREA.
Sliding Subsidy Scale Also Introduced
In addition, employers no longer have to meet a 30 per cent revenue decline threshold. Instead, employers can apply for a base subsidy that matches the level of revenue decline they’ve experienced. This subsidy will increase or decrease in line with revenue losses and gains. Employers hardest hit by COVID-19 may also qualify for a top-up subsidy of up to an additional 25 per cent. For details on the varying base rate, go to Department of Finance’s CEWS backgrounder.