The number of Canadian homes sold last month set a record for the month of September and the national average price soared 17.5 per cent from last year., according to a report Thursday.

There were 45.6 per cent more sales compared with September 2019, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. Compared with August, CREA said home sales were up 0.9 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The actual national average home price in September was a record $604,000, up 17.5 per cent from September 2019.

B次元官网网址淢any Canadian housing markets are continuing to see historically strong levels of activity as we enter into the fall market of this very strange year,B次元官网网址� CREA chair Costa Poulopoulos said in a statement.

In addition to a shortage of property listings in a number of regions, thereB次元官网网址檚 been B次元官网网址渇ierce competitionB次元官网网址� among buyers, Poulopoulos said.

CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart said other factors included pent-up demand due to early pandemic-related lockdowns, low interest rates, and government COVID-19 supports.

B次元官网网址淏ut I think another wild card factor to consider, which has no historical precedent, is the value of oneB次元官网网址檚 home during this time. Home has been our workplace, our kidsB次元官网网址� schools, the gym, the park and more. Personal space is more important than ever.,B次元官网网址� Cathcart said.

Douglas Porter, chief economist for BMO Capital Markets, said SeptemberB次元官网网址檚 price increase wasnB次元官网网址檛 a fluke as the average gain over the first nine months of 2020 was 11.6 per cent.

But PorterB次元官网网址檚 commentary concluded by inserting doubt that the B次元官网网址渞ecent sizzling strengthB次元官网网址� can persist.

B次元官网网址淭he underlying economic conditions simply do not support such a piping hot market over a sustained period,B次元官网网址� Porter wrote.

CREA said the national average price would be about $125,000 lower if sales in Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area are excluded..

But Porter noted that the MLS Home Price Index, which adjusts for different type of properties sold, has risen 10.3 per cent in the past year.

In September, the MLS HPI was up 1.3 per cent from August.

CREA attributed the modest month-over-month increase in the number of homes sold, compared with August, to declines in the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal.

Those were offset by gains in Ottawa, Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Calgary and Hamilton-Burlington, Ont.

The Canadian Press

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