CREA: Canadian home sales rise 11 per cent in June, breaking sales record for month

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By Monika Warzecha

Existing home sales in Canada rose 11 per cent in June over the same period in 2014, according new data released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Actual sales activity set a new record for June, with sales coming in at 14 per cent above the 10-year average for the month.
Two-thirds of all metros studied saw a year-over-year increase in sales activity with the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Greater Toronto, Hamilton-Burlington and Montreal leading the way.
On a month-to-month basis, existing homes sales in Canada declined by 0.8 per cent from May to June following four straight monthly gains. However, sales levels for the past two months have been robust, with May and June seeing the strongest monthly readings for MLS activity in more than five years.
Some regions did still see monthly sales increases, including Hamilton and the GTA, with the Durham Region helping to propel the GTA’s numbers upward.
“Low interest rates are helping sales activity set new records in and around the Greater Toronto Area, which is boosting national sales activity,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist.
“Those records would be even higher were it not for an ongoing shortage of listings for single family homes in the area. The combination of strong demand and a shortage of listings is continuing to fuel single family home price increases.”
Prices continued to climb with the Aggregate Composite MLS House Price Index seeing a 5.43 per cent year-over-year increase. According to CREA, gains have typically measured between 5 to 5.5 per cent since the beginning of 2014.
The largest annual increases recorded in June were in the Greater Vancouver Region (10.26 per cent) and the GTA (8.94 per cent).
It was a different story in Calgary where price growth has stalled. In June, the Home Price Index inched up by 0.48 per cent, the smallest gain in nearly four years. As of last month, the region has now seen a full year of monthly slowdowns in year-over-year price growth.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) average price for homes sold in Canada came to $453,560 in June, up 9.6 per cent from last year. However, excluding the pricey markets of Toronto and Vancouver from the equation, that number drops to $346,904 with an annual again of 3.1 per cent.
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