November Home Sales Rise 73%

November home sales rise 73%: CREA

Sales of existing homes were up 73 per cent in November compared to last year's level, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday.

A total of 36,383 residential properties traded hands via the association's Multiple Listing Service of homes for sale. That was only 0.4 per cent off of the all-time high for November sales activity that was set in 2007. New monthly sales records were set in Ontario and Quebec.

"For housing, the recession was oh so last year," BMO economist Doug Porter said in a report released Tuesday, entitled It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Bubble.
The national average price gained 19 per cent compared to November 2008, at $337,231, the CREA said Tuesday. Year to date, the average price rose 4.4 per cent compared to the same period last year. But the average price in Canada's major markets was up 20 per cent year-over-year, to $368,665. Nationally, the average price in November edged back from the peak reached in October.

But Porter stopped short of calling an outright real estate bubble, noting that the reported price change was skewed by the surge in Vancouver and Toronto sales, two of the priciest markets.
"Using a fixed-weight measure, average home prices in the major markets have risen by a milder 11 per cent year over year - still robust, but short of a warning-bell-ringing pace," Porter noted.

Still, because home sales were extraordinarily weak for four months beginning in November 2008, "this will be but the first in a string of China-style gains for Canadian home sales and prices," Porter said.
Boost in new listings

Strong demand and price increases appear to be drawing more sellers into the market. New listings on the MLS system rose five per cent on a month-over-month basis in November to 69,110 units, the biggest monthly increase since January 2008.
But the surge in new listings hasn't pushed inventories higher, as much of the new housing stock is being gobbled up by buyers eagers to capitalize on record low interest rates.

There were 183,710 homes listed for sale on MLS at the end of November 2009. This is down 23 per cent from levels reported one year ago, and the seventh month in a row in which inventories have declined from year-ago levels. An increase is normal at this time of year, since demand tends to ease relative to supply over autumn and winter months.

Nationally, there were four months of inventory in November 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest level in more than two years.

Since the beginning of 2009, some 437,507 homes have been sold on the MLS system