West Kelowna Real Estate News!
Welcome to the Shield Real Estate Blog. This is the place to visit when you want the latest West Kelowna real estate news. I share monthly tips on a variety of local real estate topics. Everything from what the market statistics mean to how to amp up your curb appeal! Anything I can share to help you prepare your home and yourself for a potential sale is here. Along with what buyers can expect when they want to purchase a West Kelowna home for sale.
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Canadian home sales rise in October
CREA NewsOttawa, ON, November 15, 2016 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales were up on a month-over-month basis in October 2016.
Highlights:
Activity was up on a month-over-month basis about 60 percent of all local markets, led by the Fraser Valley, Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton-Burlington and Montreal.
“The expanded stress-test for home buyers who need mortgage default insurance took effect in the middle of October,” said CREA President Cliff Iverson. “More time will need to pass before its effect on housing markets can be gauged. The extent to which they will push first-time home buyers to the sidelines may vary among housing markets. All real estate is local, and REALTORS® remain your best source for information about sales and listings where you live or might like to in the future.”
“First-time home buyers looking to get into the market before having to face tougher mortgage eligibility criteria had only two weeks to do so following the Finance Minister’s announcement of tighter mortgage regulations in early October,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Early evidence suggests that the influence of tighter mortgage regulations on sales activity has been mixed. The federal government will no doubt want to monitor the effect of new mortgage regulations on the many varied housing markets across Canada and on the economy, particularly given the recent rise in uncertainty about economic growth prospects following the U.S. presidential election.”
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity rose 2 percent y-o-y in October 2016 to set a record for the month, edging out the previous record set back in October 2009 by just 0.8 percent.
Transactions were up from year-ago levels in about 60 percent of all Canadian markets, with activity gains in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and environs offset by y-o-y declines in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
The number of newly listed homes climbed 1.7 percent in October 2016 compared to September. Led by a marked increase in the GTA, new listings were up from the previous month in about 60 percent of all local markets.
With sales having risen by slightly more than new listings in October, the national sales-to-new listings ratio edged higher to 62.9 percent compared to 62.4 percent in September.
A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 percent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively.
The ratio was above 60 percent in half of all local housing markets in October, the vast majority of which continue to be located in British Columbia, in and around the Greater Toronto Area and across Southwestern Ontario. The ratio has moved out of sellers’ market territory and into the mid-50 percent range in Greater Vancouver.
The number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
There were 4.5 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of October 2016 – the lowest level in almost 7 years.
The tight balance between housing supply and demand in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe region is without precedent (including the GTA, Hamilton-Burlington, Oakville-Milton, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Brantford, the Niagara Region, Barrie and nearby cottage country). In October, the number of months of inventory ranged between one and two months in many of these housing markets, and has slipped to below one month in Mississauga, the Durham Region, Orangeville, Cambridge and Guelph.
On a y-o-y basis, price growth accelerated for two-storey single family homes and apartment units while slowing for townhouse/row units.
Benchmark prices for two-storey single family homes and townhouse/row units posted the biggest y-o-y gains in October 2016 (16.7 percent and 16.0 percent respectively). Price increases were not far behind for one-storey single family homes (14.0 percent) and apartment units (11.4 percent).
While prices in 9 of the 11 markets tracked by the MLS® HPI posted y-o-y gains in October, increases continue to vary widely among housing markets.
Greater Vancouver (+24. 8 percent) and the Fraser Valley (+32.5 percent) posted the largest y-o-y gains, although single family home prices in both of these markets are now off peak.
Double-digit y-o-y percentage price gains were also registered in Greater Toronto (+19.7 percent), Victoria (+20.1 percent) and Vancouver Island (+15.8 percent).
By contrast, prices were down 4.1 percent y-o-y in Calgary. Although home prices there have held mostly steady since May, they have been below year-ago levels since August 2015 and are down 5.1 percent from the peak reached in January 2015.
Home prices also edged lower by 1.3 percent y-o-y in Saskatoon. Home prices in Saskatoon have also held below year-ago levels since August 2015.
Meanwhile, home prices posted y-o-y gains in Regina (+4.5 percent), Ottawa (+3.0 percent), Greater Moncton (+2.8 percent) and Greater Montreal (+2.6 percent).
The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) provides the best way of gauging price trends because average price trends are prone to being strongly distorted by changes in the mix of sales activity from one month to the next.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in October 2016 was up 5.9 percent y-o-y to $481,994.
The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which remain two of Canada’s tightest, most active and expensive housing markets.
That said, Greater Vancouver’s share of national sales activity has diminished considerably of late, resulting in it having less upward influence on the national average price. Even so, the average price is reduced by more than $120,000 to $361,012 if Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto sales are excluded from calculations.
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PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month.
CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 115,000 REALTORS® working through some 90 real estate Boards and Associations.
Further information can be found at http://crea.ca/statistics.
For more information, please contact:
Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca
Canadian home sales edge up in September
CREA NewsOttawa, ON, October 14, 2016 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales edged slightly higher in September 2016 compared to August.
Highlights:
The number of homes trading hands
via Canadian MLS® Systems rose 0.8 percent month-over-month in September 2016. Having eased in each of the previous four months, national home sales are 5.6 percent below the record set in April 2016.
The number of markets was evenly split between those where activity rose on a month-over-month basis and those where it declined. Continuing recent trends, sales climbed further in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and fell further in and around the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
As previously reported, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley home sales had retreated sharply for five months straight before the new foreign buyers’ tax in Metro Vancouver was announced in August. Activity has returned to more normal levels after having peaked at the start of this year. Indeed, most of the decline since the April peak in national sales reflects the rapid drop in activity in and around B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
“The Finance Minister’s recent changes to regulations affecting mortgage lending has added to housing market uncertainty among buyers and sellers,” said CREA President Cliff Iverson. “For first-time home buyers, the stress test for those who need mortgage default insurance will cause them to rethink how much home they can afford to buy.”
“First-time home buyers, particularly in housing markets with a lack of affordable inventory of single family homes, may be priced out of the market by the new regulations that take effect on October 17th,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “First-time home buyers support a cascade of other homes changing hands, making them the linchpin of the housing market. The federal government will no doubt want to monitor the effect of new regulations on the many varied housing markets across Canada and on the economy, particularly given the uncertain outlook for other private sector engines of economic growth.”
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity was up 4.2 percent y-o-y in September 2016. Transactions were up from year-ago levels in almost two-thirds of all Canadian markets. Led by the GTA and environs, the increase was held in check by the drop in activity in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
The number of newly listed homes inched up by 0.5 percent in September 2016 compared to August. As with sales activity, the number of markets where new listings were up on a month-over-month basis and those where they fell was evenly split. With inventory in acutely short supply, the rise in new listings supported higher sales activity in the GTA and the national total.
With sales and new listings having risen by similar magnitudes, the national sales-to-new listings ratio (62.1 percent) was little changed from August (61.9 percent) and remains well off the peak reached in May (65.3 percent).
A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 percent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively.
The ratio was above 60 percent in almost half of all local housing markets in September, virtually all of which continue to be located in British Columbia, in and around the Greater Toronto Area and across Southwestern Ontario. However, the ratio has moved out of sellers’ market territory and into the mid-50 percent range in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
The number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
There were 4.7 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of September 2016. The measure has remained virtually unchanged since April, with fewer sales in the Lower Mainland counterbalanced by a shrinking supply of listings in and around the GTA.
The tight balance between housing supply and demand in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe region is without precedent (including the GTA, Hamilton-Burlington, Oakville-Milton, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Brantford, the Niagara Region, Barrie and nearby cottage country). The number of months of inventory ranges between one and two months in Greater Golden Horseshoe housing markets and is less than one month inside the GTA.
On a y-o-y basis, price growth throttled back for one-storey single family homes and apartment units and held steady for two-storey single family homes and townhouse/row units.
Townhouse/row unit and two-storey single family home posted the biggest y-o-y increases in September 2016 (16.4 percent and 16.3 percent respectively). Price increases were close behind for one-storey single family homes (14.0 percent) and apartment units (11.1 percent).
While prices in 9 of the 11 markets tracked by the MLS® HPI posted y-o-y gains in September, increases continue to vary widely among housing markets.
Greater Vancouver (+28. 2 percent) and the Fraser Valley (+35.0 percent) posted the largest y-o-y gains by a wide margin. However, single family home prices in both of these markets dropped from the month before, marking the first significant decline since late 2012.
Double-digit y-o-y percentage price gains were also registered in Greater Toronto (+18.0 percent), Victoria (+19.4 percent) and Vancouver Island (+13.9 percent).
By contrast, prices were down -4.1 percent y-o-y in Calgary. Although home prices there have held steady since May, they have remained below year-ago levels since August 2015 and are down 4.6 percent from the peak reached in January 2015.
Home prices also edged lower by 1.2 percent y-o-y in Saskatoon. Home prices in Saskatoon have also held below year-ago levels since August 2015.
Meanwhile, home prices posted additional y-o-y gains in Regina (+4.9 percent), Greater Moncton (+4.2 percent), Ottawa (+2.7 percent) and Greater Montreal (+2.7 percent).
The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) provides the best way of gauging price trends because average price trends are prone to being strongly distorted by changes in the mix of sales activity from one month to the next.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in September 2016 was up 9.5 percent y-o-y to $474,590.
The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which remain two of Canada’s tightest, most active and expensive housing markets.
That said, Greater Vancouver’s share of national sales activity has diminished considerably of late, resulting in it having less upward influence on the national average price. Even so, the average price is reduced by more than $100,000 to $358,884 if Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto sales are excluded from calculations.
– 30 –
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month.
CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 115,000 REALTORS® working through some 90 real estate Boards and Associations.
For more information, please contact:
Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca
Canadian home sales decline further in August
CREA NewsOttawa, ON, September 15, 2016 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales declined for a fourth consecutive month in August 2016.
Highlights:
The number of homes trading hands via Canadian MLS® Systems fell by 3.1 percent month-over-month in August 2016 – the largest monthly decline since December 2014. Together with declines in each of the three previous months, the slowdown in August places national home sales activity 6.9 percent below the record set in April 2016.
Sales activity was down from levels in the previous month in close to 60 per cent of all markets in August, led by a steep decline in Greater Vancouver following the introduction of a new property transfer tax on homes purchased by foreign buyers.
“The sudden introduction of the new property transfer tax on homes purchased by foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver has created a cloud of uncertainty among home buyers and sellers,” said CREA President Cliff Iverson. “That the tax applies to sales that had not yet closed shows how the details for a new tax policy can unnecessarily destabilize housing markets. More broadly, it speaks to the importance of evidence-based decision making to ensure that unintended consequences and collateral damage are minimized when new policies or tighter regulations affecting housing markets are being actively considered.”
“Single family homes sales were already cooling before the new land transfer tax on foreign home buyers in Metro Vancouver came into effect,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The surprise announcement of the new tax caused sales to brake hard.”
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity was up 10.2 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) in August 2016. Sales were up from year-ago levels in about three-quarters of all Canadian markets, led by Greater Toronto. By contrast, Greater Vancouver posted the largest year-over-year sales decline.
The number of newly listed homes fell by 2.7 percent in August 2016 compared to July. While new supply was down in just over half of all local markets, declines in the Lower Mainland, Greater Toronto and Montreal far outweighed the monthly rise in new listings in less active markets.
With sales and new listings both down by similar magnitudes in August, the national sales-to-new listings ratio was 61.6 percent, which was little changed from 61.8 percent in July. The ratio had previously been as high as 65.3 percent in May.
A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 percent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively.
The ratio was above 60 percent in almost half of all local housing markets in August, virtually all of which continue to be located in British Columbia, in and around the Greater Toronto Area and across Southwestern Ontario. Notably, the ratio moved into the mid-50 percent range in Greater Vancouver in August after having begun the year at 90 percent.
The number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
There were 4.8 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of August 2016. This was up from 4.6 months in the previous three months and marked the first increase in almost a year.
The number of months of inventory had been trending lower since early 2015, reflecting increasingly tighter housing markets in Ontario – and, until recently, in B.C. It nonetheless remains below two months in Victoria and virtually everywhere within the Greater Golden Horseshoe region, including Greater Toronto, Hamilton-Burlington, Oakville-Milton, Guelph,
Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Brantford, the Niagara Region, Barrie and Woodstock-
Ingersoll. Indeed, major areas within the GTA have less than one month of inventory.
For the seventh consecutive month, y-o-y price growth accelerated for all Benchmark property types tracked by the index.
Two-storey single family home prices posted a 16.3 percent year-over-year increase in August 2016, as did townhouse/row units. One-storey single family homes followed close behind with a y-o-y increase of 14.4 percent, while apartment unit prices rose 11.7 percent y-o-y.
While prices in 9 of the 11 markets tracked by the MLS® HPI posted y-o-y gains in August, increases continue to vary widely among housing markets.
Greater Vancouver (+31.4 percent) and the Fraser Valley (+38.3 percent) posted the largest y-o-y gains by a wide margin. Smaller double-digit y-o-y percentage price gains were also recorded by Greater Toronto (+17.2 percent), Victoria (+18.9 percent) and Vancouver Island (+13.1 percent).
By contrast, prices were down -4.1 percent y-o-y in Calgary in August. Although prices there have held steady since May 2016, they have remained down from year-ago levels since September 2015 and are 4.7 percent below the peak reached in January 2015.
Additionally, prices were down by -0.9 percent y-o-y in Saskatoon in August. While prices have remained below year-ago levels since August 2015, they are on track to begin rebounding before year-end should current trends persist.
Meanwhile, home prices posted additional y-o-y gains in Greater Moncton (+6.6 percent), Regina (+3.7 percent), Greater Montreal (+2.5 percent) and Ottawa (+1.7 percent).
The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) provides the best way of gauging price trends because average price trends are prone to being distorted by changes in the mix of sales activity from one month to the next.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in August 2016 was $456,722, up 5.4 percent y-o-y, making it the smallest increase since January 2015.
The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which remain two of Canada’s tightest, most active and expensive housing markets.
Greater Vancouver’s share of national sales activity has diminished, causing it to have less upward influence on the national average price. Nonetheless, if Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto are excluded from calculations, the average price is reduced by about $100,000 to $357,033.
– 30 –
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national sales information from MLS® Systems from the previous month.
CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
MLS® Systems are co-operative marketing systems used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 115,000 REALTORS® working through some 90 real estate Boards and Associations.
For more information, please contact:
Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
E-mail: pleduc@crea.ca