Existing home sales set July record
August 14, 2009 Tony WongBUSINESS REPORTER
A total of 50,270 homes exchanged hands last month, breaking the previous record set in July of 2007 when the market was at its peak, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Year over year gains in Toronto (up 28 per cent), Calgary (up 22 per cent) and Montreal (up 19 per cent) helped set the record. Vancouver was the stand out, however, with a 90 per cent year over year gain.
Prices nationally are up 7.6 per cent from a year ago to $326,832.
However, only seven markets in Canada posted new average price records. This suggests that a strong rebound in sales activity in the more expensive cities in Canada is skewing national prices upward.
The trend toward fewer listings is also having an impact. For the seventh month in a row, listings were down. This time by 13 per cent in July as buyers have fewer inventory to choose from.
Nationally, there were 4.4 months of inventory last month, well below the recessionary peak of 12.8 months in January of this year.
"Home sales through the MLS systems in July provide clear evidence that sentiment about making major purchases continues to improve," said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. "These trends are supporting average prices."
EDITOR'S PICKS
No comments:
Post a Comment