Canada home sales slip 4.5%

Thursday 23rd February 2012

The volume of residential property sales in Canada fell by 4.5% in January 2012, the first decrease since August 2011 and the largest decline since July 2010, the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows.

But actual Canada property sales - not seasonally adjusted - activity was 4% higher than in January 2011, while the number of newly listed homes fell 1.4% from December 2011 to January 2012 following a 2.9% rise.

“The national housing market is stabilising and remains well balanced. That said, forecasts for economic and job growth going forward vary widely for different parts of the country, suggesting a possible continuation of a softening trend in some markets, as well as the potential that demand will pick up based on strong fundamentals in others,” said Gary Morse, CREA’s President.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the national average home price increased 1.6% month-on-month, marking a rebound from a decline of similar magnitude in December 2011.

Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist, commented: “Year-over-year comparisons in the national average price are expected to become volatile and may turn negative, reflecting average price developments in the first half of 2011 in Vancouver. At that time, high-end home sales in Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods surged to all-time record levels, which skewed the national average price upward considerably.”

The actual - not seasonally adjusted - national average price for homes sold in January 2012 was CA$348,178 (£222,245), representing an increase of 1.2% year-on-year. This represents one of the lowest increases since late 2010.