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Tuesday 17 April 2012

Canadian real estate: Toronto stays warm as Vancouver gets a chill

It’s been a strong start for spring house hunting across Canada, but the impact of Toronto’s hot market and Vancouver’s cooling market are being felt.

Home sales rose 2.5 per cent from February to March, lifting national activity to the highest monthly level since April 2010, according to statistics released Monday by the Canadian Real Estate Assoc. (CREA.)

While the average price of a Canadian home hit $369,677 in March, up but just half a percentage point from a year earlier, Toronto’s hot market saw gains of 10.5 per cent year over year, with the average house price hitting $504,117.

Vancouver, on the other hand, saw a cooldown — largely because an unprecedented buying spree last spring in certain upscale neighbourhoods sent sales and prices into the stratosphere — with the average price down 3.1 per cent to $761,742.

In fact, from February to March of this year alone, Vancouver prices were down more than 11 per cent when adjusted for seasonal fluctations, compared to an almost one percentage point increase in Toronto home prices during the same period.

Prices across the whole country were down 1.7 per cent from February to March when adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, according to the CREA monthly statistics.

New listings continue to be a challenge, especially in Toronto, with supply and demand tightening slightly.

A total of 108,373 homes changed hands in the first three months of this year, up 5 per cent above the five-year average for first quarter sales.

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