Canada’s housing market has yet to take its summer vacation. August numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association show sales rose 33.5% compared to a year ago and were up more than 6% from July’s record setting pace.
Nearly 59,000 properties changed hands last month, making it the busiest August ever.
Prices took a hike in August as well. The national average rose 18.5% year-over-year to $586,000. As usual, Toronto and Vancouver had an outsized influence on the number. When those two markets are factored out the national average price drops to $464,000, up 18% year-over-year.
CREA’s Home Price Index, which compensates for anomalies like Vancouver and Toronto, posted a 9.4% y-o-y increase.
The sales-to-new-listings ratio improved slightly in August, easing to 69% from more than 72% in July. A little good news for buyers, but still firmly in “sellers’ market” territory.
While the summer boom has made up for the COVID induced slump earlier in the year, market watchers are looking ahead for signs of another slowdown, or worse.
Concerns continue to focus on what will happen once $267 billion in mortgage and loan deferrals expire and government COVID supports, like CERB, come to an end.