The Canadian Real Estate Association has released its monthly sales statistics for November 2013, reporting that national home sales were little changed over the month of October. According to the report, national sales processed through Canadian MLS® Systems edged slightly lower, by 0.1%.
CREA notes that November sales activity stood at 3.4% below the peak reached in September, demonstrating that “activity in the later summer and early fall was likely boosted by homebuyers with pre-approved mortgages at lower than current interest rates jumping into the market before their pre-approvals expired.”
Actual sales activity, not seasonally adjusted, rose 5.9% from November 2012, with year-over-year increases “posted in about half of all local markets.” The report goes on to note that on an actual basis, not seasonally adjusted, “a total of 434,678 homes have traded hands across the country so far this year.”
The national sales-to-new-listing ratio dropped slightly to 53.4%, down from 53.5% in October, remaining “well within balanced market territory.” Additionally, there were 6.0 months of inventory at the end of November, unchanged from the month before. This statistic “represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.”
CREA notes that “as with the sales-to-new listings ratio, the current level of the months of inventory measure indicates that the Canadian housing market remains well balanced.” Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist, added that “most housing markets are in balanced market territory, including in many large urban centres where sales are below peaks reached earlier this year.”
November’s actual national average for home sale prices, not seasonally adjusted, stood at $391,085, an increase of 9.8% over November of 2012. CREA’s report adds that “the size of year-over-year average price gains continues to reflect the decline in sales activity last year in some of Canada’s larger and more expensive markets which caused the national average price to drop at that time.” With Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto removed from national average price calculations, the year-over-year increase is 4.3%.
As real estate is primarily a local industry, ensure to speak to your REALTOR® for sales statistics and market trends in your region. To read the full report and additional statistics from CREA, please visit their website. If you’d like additional details, please contact us directly or browse our website for a sales representative who can help you.
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