Vancouver Real Estate Blog

Canadian Real Estate Association is partnering Up - 5 Of Canada's Largest Real Estate Boards To Develop A National Housing Price Index

A new method for measuring trends in housing prices will soon be available to REALTORS® and the public in five major markets across Canada.

Five of Canada's largest real estate boards – Calgary, Fraser Valley, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver -  together with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) are developing a national housing price index (HPI) which will be ready for launch at the end of January 2012.

An HPI is the best and purest way of gauging price trends in the housing market. It takes housing quality into account, such as housing category, location, number of rooms, living area, etc., in a way that no other method of price tracking does.

An HPI is not new in Canada. Both REBGV and our neighbouring Fraser Valley Real Estate Board have had an HPI in place since 1996, when we hired economists to build a local housing price index for the BC Lower Mainland. The HPI has been widely recognized as providing the most accurate indication of housing price trends in our markets.

Home Sale Forecasts Changes For Canada - Greater Vancouver Surges Ahead

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revised its forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) systems of Canadian real estate boards and associations for 2011 and 2012.

National sales activity is now expected to reach 441,100 units in 2011, a decline of 1.3 per cent from 2010. This is a slight improvement from the 1.6 per cent decline forecast by CREA in February, due to stronger than expected activity in British Columbia in the first quarter of 2011.

In 2012, CREA forecasts that national sales activity will rebound by 2.6 per cent to 452,500 units. This is little changed from the previous forecast, and stands roughly on par with the ten year average for annual activity.
Although sales activity in the first quarter of 2011 came in largely as expected, multimillion dollar property sales in Greater Vancouver have surged unexpectedly. These sales have upwardly skewed average sale prices for the province and nationally, prompting the average price forecast to be revised higher.

The national average home price is forecast to rise four per cent in 2011 and nine-tenths of a per cent in 2012, to $352,500 and $355,800 respectively. This marks an increase from the previous forecast, and underscores the significant effect that investment in British Columbia is and will have on national results.

To read the full report follow the link below:

http://members.rebgv.org/realtorlink/rebgv/publications/RLzine/RL_may202011/files/CREAForecast.html

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)

 THe Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada's largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 100,000 Realtors and working through more than 100 Real Estate Boards and Associations.

Canadian Real Estate Association President George Pahad talks about the Competition Consent Agreement

The President of the Canadian Real Estate Association(CREA) Georges Pahud welcomed the decision of  ratifyingthe Competition consent agreement. The agreement was approved by CREA's Board of Directors and the Commissioner of Competition on September 30th and has been in escrow pending the October 24th vote.

With the ratification process finished CREA believes that it's rules as well as those of it's members should not deny or discriminate against Realtors wishing to offer mere posting services. CREA believes that no such rule exists or ever did exist. Please see my last posting to compare the wording of section 17.1.1.2

The Board's MLS System remains a member to member service to provide accurate and timely information to the delivery of professional real estate to Canadians.  

The MLS system is used by 100,000 Realtors and thousands of brokerages with various business models and services. The MLS System is a co-operative marketing system used only by Canada's Real

Estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of listed properties for sale.

 

Vancouver's housing prices are leveling off

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has lowered its forecast for home sales. In part because of the decline in affordability in British Columbia during the first quarter 2010. Also in April  the Bank of Canada dropped its conditional commitment to keep interest rates on hold until at least July, opening the door to an interest rate hike before then. As we saw yesterday, we saw the Bank of Canada raise their rate a quarter percent to 0.5%

Canadian sales  forecast is to reach 490,600 units in 2010, up 5.5 per cent from 2009 and the second highest annual level on record. Interest rate projections show a very slow but steady rise in lending. While this seem good in all practical terms, it however will have a cooling effect on home purchases, which is a key element in economic recovery. Every home sold has a huge and multiplying affect for related industries. Industries that make various appliances, flooring materials, paint, landscaping, etc. Let alone the huge amount of taxes the government gets from each home sale, all leads to economic stability for the Canadian market place and consumer confidence. With interest rates on the slow rise, I see a slowing down in Sales in Vancouver. I have already seen this shift take place. It started last month. Where I noticed it the most, is through "Open Houses". In March and April it was common to have 15 -30 groups through. In May and into June that number has dropped to 4-9 groups through an open. One of the reasons also is the new volume of homes on the market of lately. A lot of people were holding off in January, then February and March because of the 1) build up to the Olympics, 2) the Olympics themselves, 3) Post Olympics and Spring Break. Once this was out of the way and April rolled in, we also saw a huge volume of  new number of listings coming into the market place. This changed the market from a Sellers Market to a Buyers Market.

Interest rate increases will contribute to weaker national sales activity in 2011. Canadian real estate Boards are forecasting a decline of 8.5 per cent to 448,700 units in 2011.

http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/pdfs/forecast_news_release020610.pdf

Canadian Real Estte Association forecasts largest sales activity in British Columbia and Alberta.

National MLS® home sales activity is forecast to rebound by 7.2 per cent to 397,000 units in 2010. This is a slightly weaker rebound than predicted in CREA’s previous forecast. The revision reflects recently downgraded forecasts for economic growth next year. The rebound in activity in 2010 is forecast to be biggest in British Columbia and Alberta.

http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/pdfs/mlsforecastq12009.pdf

 

Average price across Canadian cities.

Each month, The Canadian Real Estate Association compiles the statistics of existing homes and properties sold through the Multiple Listing Service®. This provides an overview of the existing housing market in Canada, and tracks market trends for prices and properties sold.

The detailed reports are available to REALTORS® to help in market analysis. This map will show what the latest statistics for major markets across Canada, based on the MLS® reports provided by local real estate Boards. By dragging your mouse across a specific city, the latest average price will appear. The latest news release dealing with our MLS® statistics is available in the Media Center web page.

http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/statistics.htm

Canadian Home Resales Drop 2.6% in April From March.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said in a statement from Ottawa today, that home sales fell 2.6% in April from March 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, as the country’s housing market cools from record sales. The number of homes sold dropped to 42,078 in April, from 43,199 units the month before, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. For more on this topic click on this link below.

http://creanews.ca/2010/05/17/canada%e2%80%99s-hot-resale-housing-market-starting-to-cool/.

MLS Stats on Average prices across Canada

Click on the link below to find the average price of homes across this country. These stats are compiled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)  across Canada. This map will show the latest stats for all major markets.

http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/statistics.htm