Resale housing market up 8.6% in February

vista · 发表于 2009-3-16 11:05

Resale housing market up 8.6% in February

By John Morrissy, Financial PostMarch 16, 2009 12:02 PMBe the first to post a comment
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‘Realtors are reporting increased interest especially from first-time homebuyers’Photograph by: Tim Boyle/Getty Images, OTTAWA -- Canada’s housing industry showed signs of life in February after several months of declines, with resales rising 8.6% from January thanks to lower mortgage rates and prices, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported Monday.

Despite February’s gains, sales are still down 31% year over year, as are prices, which have fallen 9.2% in the past 12 months, CREA said.

Still, atotal of 28,669 homes changed hands in February on a seasonally adjusted basis via the industry group’s Multiple Listing Service. It is the first month-to-month uptick in home-resale activity since September 2008.

"Typically, the spring market we’re moving into generates more activity, and this year there are the benefits from historically low mortgage rates and improved affordability in most markets," said CREA president Calvin Lindberg.

CREA cautioned that listings remain high, although the number is trending lower, with 65,060 units listed for sale in February, down 10.9% from the same month a year ago.

"The housing supply is expected to continue easing, but it will take time before it realigns with lower demand," said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

"Economic uncertainty is keeping home buyers in a cautious mood, so homes are taking longer to sell than in recent years. Lower sales activity at the higher end of the price spectrum will keep the national MLS residential average price under downward pressure."

The national average price for home sales via the MLS was $281,972. Mortgage rates, meanwhile, are near historic lows. On Friday, for instance, TD Canada Trust lowered its seven-year fixed mortgage rate by 0.2 points to 6.8%.

CREA said February’s 9.2% annualized price decline is smaller than year-over-year drops posted in the past four months and is the first time the pace of decline decelerated since turning negative in July 2008.

"The report does offer some hope that the decline in Canadian home prices may have stabilized somewhat in February after appearing to have accelerated in the latter months of 2008," said TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine.

"Not surprisingly, the biggest decline in prices were in Calgary (down 10.8% year over year), Greater Vancouver (down 13%), and Windsor (down 15.7%). However, prices in Toronto (down 5.4%) were also lower, while prices in Montreal (up 2.2%) and Quebec City (up 9.3%) continue to rise, albeit at a more modest clip,” Mr. Mulraine said.

Canwest News Service

yxia · 发表于 2009-3-16 11:14

Resale home prices fall 9.2 per cent in Feb., but sales up first time since Sept.
2 t4 \+ R2 Y5 k- gBrenda Bouw, THE CANADIAN PRESS
March 16, 2009
House prices and sales continued to slide across Canada in February compared to the same time last year, but activity was up for the first time since September.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday that resale home prices fell 9.2 per cent across Canada last month to an average of $281,972. Sales fell 31 per cent to 25,373 units in February, the smallest year-over-year decline since October 2008. Seasonally adjusted sales fell 26.8 per cent.
The association, known as CREA, also said the number of homes that traded hands on the multiple listing service, or MLS, was up 8.6 per cent above seasonally adjusted levels in January.
"It looks like the Category 5 hurricane which had been pounding the home resale market has been downgraded to 'just' a Category 4," BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter said Monday.
But Porter said he expects prices to continue to fall in the months ahead.
"Even with a moderate improvement in February home sales from the exceedingly weak levels around the turn of the year, it's still a clear-cut buyer's market in most regions of the country. And, that doesn't look likely to change any time soon."
CREA said February's average price is being skewed lower in large part by fewer sales in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario "where homes are more expensive and demand has softened most."
The weighted average, which compensates for larger swings in sales activity in some provinces, was down 5.3 per cent year-over-year.
For instance, February sales fell the most in British Columbia, down 46.5 per cent to 3,653 units compared to last year, followed by drop of 32.1 per cent in Saskatchewan to 628 units and down 29.8 per cent to 3,231 units in Alberta.
Sales in Ontario, which has the largest housing market in the country, fell 29.2 per cent to 9,861 units year-over-year in February.
Prices also fell the most in B.C., at 12 per cent to $421,023, followed by a 9.2-per-cent drop in Alberta to $326,785. Prices in Ontario fell 6.2 per cent last month to an average $284,843.
Prices rose 29 per cent to $195,072 in Newfoundland and Labrador, but sales there fell 17.2 per cent to 197 units.
CREA also said 28,669 homes traded hands on the MLS last month, up 8.6 per cent from January, "the first monthly increase in activity since September 2008."
Monthly seasonal increases in activity were largest in British Columbia at 14.4 per cent, Nova Scotia at 12.7 per cent and Alberta at 11.9 per cent. Ontario and Quebec were on par with the national increase.
CREA president Calvin Lindberg said the market typically picks up in February and into the spring, but that this year buyers are being lured by historically low mortgage rates and increased affordability.
"Realtors are reporting increased interest especially from first time home buyers," Lindberg said.
Ottawa recently announced incentives for first-time home buyers including an increase in how much they can withdraw from their RRSPs from $20,000 to $25,000, as well as a tax credit of up to $750 to help cover closing costs.
CREA said the supply of homes for sale remains high, but has been trending lower. New national listings fell 10.9 per cent from the same month one year ago and are down 11.4 per cent from their peak reached in May 2008.
"The housing supply is expected to continue easing, but it will take time before it realigns with lower demand," said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.
"Economic uncertainty is keeping home buyers in a cautious mood, so homes are taking longer to sell than in recent years."
CREA said seasonally adjusted residential dollar volume for MLS sales totalled $8 billion in February 2009, an increase of 7.2 per cent from the previous month.
"Consumer confidence will continue to be depressed by a barrage of negative economic news in the months ahead," said Klump.
"Heightened job insecurity will keep many potential home buyers on the sidelines. Those who are confident about their job situation will benefit from improving affordability in a number of housing markets."

精品中年老男人 · 发表于 2009-3-16 11:36

谢谢版主。

HooHoo1 · 发表于 2009-3-16 12:29

有个误区，售量升是２月比１月，不是同比，价降是同比。结论：呼悠。

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