Dollar volume set new monthly records in British Columbia and Alberta, and reached its highest level ever for the month of March in all provinces except Ontario and Prince Edward Island.

…”Unless new listings pick up over the next few months, the continuing seller’s market will keep year-over-year average price increases in the range from six to eight percent until the late autumn when they are expected to become more muted.”

Average home price nears $195,000 in March
Thursday, April 28, 2005

Inman News

Existing-home sales via the Multiple Listing Service in Canada remained strong in March 2005, with seasonally adjusted sales activity virtually unchanged from the previous month.

A total of 38,198 homes traded hands via the MLS in March, representing an increase of 0.2 percent compared to the 38,139 units sold in February.

Sales activity shattered all previous quarterly records in Alberta and New Brunswick, and set new first-quarter records in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

Seasonally adjusted new listings numbered 61,303 in March, which is virtually unchanged from the 61,443 units listed in February. On a quarterly basis, new listings rose 0.8 percent from the previous quarter to 182,841 units.

New listings reached their highest quarterly level on record in the province of Alberta, and reached their highest first quarter levels ever in Newfoundland and New Brunswick. With sales and new listings in the first quarter of 2005 virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, market balance remained stable.

Seasonally adjusted dollar volume was valued at $7.27 billion ($9.1 billion Canadian), which represents a decline of 0.2 percent from the previous month. In the first quarter, dollar volume reached $21.6 billion ($27 billion Canadian). This represents an increase of 2.7 percent compared to fourth-quarter 2004. Dollar volume in first-quarter 2005 came close to its highest quarterly level on record, which was set in the second quarter of 2004.

Dollar volume set new monthly records in British Columbia and Alberta, and reached its highest level ever for the month of March in all provinces except Ontario and Prince Edward Island. Dollar volume also posted its strongest first quarter on record on a national basis, and in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.

The national MLS residential average price rose by 9.1 percent year-over-year to $194,649 ($243,779 Canadian) in March. Average price in the first quarter of 2005 was up 8.5 percent compared to the same quarter in 2004.

Average price reached its highest monthly level on record in March on a national basis, and in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Average price also reached its highest quarterly level on a national basis, and in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.

“With interest rates now expected to hold steady until later this year, sales will remain strong until interest rates begin to rise,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist for the Canadian Real Estate Association. “Unless new listings pick up over the next few months, the continuing seller’s market will keep year-over-year average price increases in the range from six to eight percent until the late autumn when they are expected to become more muted.”

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but this does not indicate actual prices in centers comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differentials between geographical areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS data is available from the Conference Board of Canada at http://www.conferenceboard.ca/Weblinx.