The Canadian housing market saw more sales this July than any month in the past 40 years, with 30 per cent more homeowners closing on properties compared to this time last year.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday that the 62,355 sales in July 2020 marked the highest monthly sales figure on record, with data going back more than 40 years.
Sales in July were up 30.5 per cent compared with the same month a year ago and up 26 per cent from June, rebounding from lows of earlier this year when the COVID-19 pandemic froze the market.
CREA Senior Economist Shaun Cathcart said there was more than one driving force behind JulyB次元官网网址檚 full-tilt housing market, citing both COVID-19 and existing issues heading into 2020.
B次元官网网址淎 big part of what weB次元官网网址檙e seeing right now is the snap back in activity that would have otherwise happened earlier this year,B次元官网网址� Cathcart said.
B次元官网网址淩ecall that before the lockdowns, we were heading into the tightest spring market in almost 20 years.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淪ome purchases will no doubt be delayed, but the new-found importance of home, lack of a daily commute for many, a desire for more outdoor and personal space, room for a home office, etc. will certainly also spur activity that otherwise would not have happened in a non-COVID-19 world.B次元官网网址�
CREA says the actual national average price for homes sold in July was a record $571,500, up 14.3 per cent from the same month last year.
The uptick in prices was broad-based, with all 20 of the markets tracked by CREA reporting month-over-month increases in July.
The Toronto area, Guelph, Ottawa and Montreal saw the biggest price spikes, with prices climbing faster in most markets east of Saskatchewan. Prices rose more modestly in British Columbia and Alberta, CREA said.
In July, demand outpaced supply, as sales increased faster than new properties could be listed. Although new listings hit a record for the month of July, as the number of newly listed homes climbed by 7.6 per cent in July compared with June, it came amid a 26 per cent jump in sales.
Cathcart said in a statement that despite the surge in new listings hitting the market, the total number of listings that lingered on the market as inventory was at a 16-year low.
CREAB次元官网网址檚 statement also suggested that new supply appears to be B次元官网网址渢apering off in many parts of the country,B次元官网网址� with the Toronto area dominating new listings. The B次元官网网址渟ales-to-new listingsB次元官网网址� ratio in July was at its highest levels since 2001-2002, at 73.9 per cent.
B次元官网网址淭here are listings that will come to the market because of COVID-19, but many properties are also not being listed right now due to the virus,B次元官网网址� said Cathcart.
Brian DePratto, senior economist at TD Economics, said it can be hard to understand how the housing market can be so hot when the unemployment rate remains in double-digits.
B次元官网网址淭he pandemic has disproportionately impacted lower income Canadians, who are less likely to be or become homeowners,B次元官网网址� wrote DePratto in a note to clients. B次元官网网址淏orrowing costs have fallen.B次元官网网址�
DePratto said that the strength of the recent rebound in the housing market is B次元官网网址渄efinitely surprisingB次元官网网址� and said there are still many factors to watch in terms of tracking the economic recovery from the pandemic.
B次元官网网址淎 number of support programs, including mortgage forbearance, are helping insulate the economy from the worst impacts of the pandemic,B次元官网网址� wrote DePratto.
B次元官网网址淎s autumn approaches, these programs will expire or change form. Depending on the progress of the broader economic recovery, this could bring significant headwinds to housing markets, particularly prices.B次元官网网址�
The Canadian Press
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