The country’s real estate market showed some signs of recovery in March; although home prices were still down, home sales and new home builds went up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The annual pace of housing starts \u2013 new home construction projects \u2013 recovered in March from a sluggish performance in February, highlighting the resilience of the country\u2019s housing market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts was 192,527 units last month, up by 15.8% from 166,290 units month over month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SAAR of urban starts increased by 17% to 178,033 units. Multiple urban starts rose by 18.6% to 135,894 units, while single-detached urban starts increased by 12.1% to 42,139 units. Meanwhile, rural starts were estimated at a SAAR of 14,494 units, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The six-month moving average of housing starts remains near historical levels, said Bob Dugan, CMHC\u2019s chief economist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Home prices declined for the sixth straight month \u2013 the first March drop outside a recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Teranet-National Bank House Price Index showed prices fell by 0.31% last month from February and were down by 1.74% from the peak reached in September 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compared to last year, prices remain 1.53% higher. However, the year-over-year (YOY) increase showed that the annual pace of growth is continually slowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s look at the figures in the country\u2019s largest housing markets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toronto prices sank by 0.29% month over month (MOM) and were down by 4.32% from the July 2017 peak. Prices were up by 3.26% from last year, but the annual pace of growth has slowed for the past three consecutive months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vancouver was a little worse than Toronto. Vancouver prices dropped by 0.46% MOM and were down by 4.31% from the July 2018 peak. Prices were also down by 2.1% from last year, the biggest annual decline since June 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Montreal reached a new all-time high. Montreal prices rose by 0.12% MOM and were now up by 5.46% from last year. The annual pace of growth is far outperforming the national index, but the city\u2019s prices have underperformed the market by 20% since 2005, according to Better Dwelling<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n National home sales edged up by 0.9% after a sharp drop in February, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). However, year-over-year sales activity fell by 4.6% to the weakest level for March since 2013. It was also almost 12% below the 10-year average for the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, sales were more than 20% below their 10-year average. In Quebec and New Brunswick, sales activity ran well above average. In the Greater Toronto Area, sales were flat at 7,187 \u2013 down by only one home YOY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the number of newly listed homes rose by 2.1%. New supply increased in about two-thirds of all local markets, led by Winnipeg, Regina, Victoria and elsewhere on Vancouver Island. In contrast, new listings decreased in the Greater Toronto Area (by 5.1% YOY), Ottawa and Halifax-Dartmouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With new listings improving more than sales, the national sales-to-new-listings ratio eased to 54.2% from 54.9% in February. This market balance measure has largely remained close to its long-term average of 53.5% since early 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The country’s real estate market showed some signs of recovery in March; although home prices were still down, home sales and new home builds went up. Housing Starts The annual pace of housing starts \u2013 new home construction projects \u2013 recovered in March from a sluggish performance in February, highlighting the resilience of the country\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":16437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-posts","category-real-estate-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHome Sales<\/h2>\n\n\n\n