{"id":18619,"date":"2021-09-15T15:57:43","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T19:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/?p=18619"},"modified":"2021-09-16T09:17:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T13:17:41","slug":"crea-august-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/crea-august-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"This August was the Second-Highest Ever for National Home Sales: CREA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

National home sales continued to chill in August from their frenzied pandemic peak, but it was still an unusually busy month for market activity, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their most recent report<\/a> reveals a total of 48,379 homes changed hands last month; and while that marks a dip of -0.5% from July and -14% from 2020\u2019s scorching summer market, it\u2019s the second-best August in history in terms of real estate transactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record-Low Supply Leads to National Sellers\u2019 Market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, the standout trend in today\u2019s market is the drastic shortage of homes for sale – new listings rose a scant 1.2% month over month, while overall months of inventory – the amount of time it would take to entirely sell off all available housing stock – sits at a dire 2.2 months. That\u2019s less than twice the long-term average, and is putting considerable pressure on today\u2019s prospective home buyers, who face a steep sellers\u2019 market from a national perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) was 72.4% in August, well above the long term average of 54.7%. According to CREA, a ratio between 40 – 60% indicates balanced market conditions, while above and below that threshold indicate sellers\u2019 and buyers\u2019 markets, respectively. As housing has been considered a sellers\u2019 market for the past year, that\u2019s boosted home values at an unprecedented pace; CREA reports the average national home price hit $663,500 in August, up 13.3% year over year. The HPI Composite Benchmark – a measure of the most typical homes for sale – rose 0.9% from July, the first increase seen since February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to CREA, a large chunk of price growth is occurring in secondary markets rather than in big city centres like Greater Toronto or Vancouver. Check out the infographic below to see how benchmark prices trended across Canada in July:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Home Prices Rise 17% in the GTA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Greater Toronto home buyers continued to be challenged by a steep shortage of supply, as the number of new listings plunged -42.6% in August, with 12,255 homes brought to market. That has contributed to a -2.7% decline in sales from July and a -20.2% drop from 2020, as 8,579 homes traded hands. That\u2019s led to an SNLR of 70%, well into sellers\u2019 market territory, and up 8.7% from the same time last year. Benchmark prices continue to be historically elevated, up 17.3% year over year to $1,059,300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n