Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Vancouver, Toronto outliers in national housing market

Record number of Canadian homes changed hands in April
real estate
Canadian Real Estate Association: "...Many homeowners are deciding to stay put and continue accumulating capital gains. That’s keeping listings off the markets at a time when they are already in short supply.” Photo Dan Toulgoet

A record number of Canadian homes changed hands in April, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported May 16.

The number of sales was up 3.1 per cent between March and April, and up 10.3 per cent compared to April 2015.

The country’s hottest real estate markets, Toronto and Vancouver, bucked that trend with listings either remaining flat or declining.

“While significant home price gains may entice some homeowners in these markets to list their home for sale, the issue for many is that the decision to move means they would also be looking to buy while competition for scarce listings is fierce,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist for CREA, in a release.

“As a result, many homeowners are deciding to stay put and continue accumulating capital gains. That’s keeping listings off the markets at a time when they are already in short supply.”

Vancouver home price gains continue to outstrip any other market by a wide margin. The benchmark home sale price in Vancouver increased 25.3 per cent between April 2015 and April 2016; in Toronto, the prices rose 12.6 per cent over the same period. Aside from Vancouver and Toronto, most other Canadian markets saw either flat or declining average prices.

The Canadian average sale price increased 13.1 per cent in April, but that number drops to 8.7 per cent when Vancouver and Toronto are removed. When British Columbia and Ontario are taken out of the data, the national sales price increase was just 1.7 per cent.

@jenstden

jstdenis@biv.com

For business news go to biv.com