Ottawa, ON, January 15, 2015 - According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity was down on a month-over-month basis in December 2014.
Highlights:
• National home sales fell 5.8% from November to December.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 7.9% above December 2013 levels.
• The number of newly listed homes rose 1.1% from November to December.
• The Canadian housing market remains balanced.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 5.4% year-over-year in December.
• The national average sale price rose 3.8% on a year-over-year basis in December.
The number of home sales processed through the MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations fell 5.8 per cent in December 2014 compared to November (Chart A) and remained above year-ago levels. December sales were down from the previous month in almost two-thirds of all local housing markets, led by declines of about 25 per cent in both Calgary and Edmonton. Activity also slipped by about five per cent in the Greater Toronto Area.
"Home sales activity remained above year-ago levels in most local housing markets," said CREA President Beth Crosbie. "Sales were also stronger in December than they were the previous month in about one-third of all local markets in Canada. This underscores the fact that all real estate is local. Nobody knows this better than your local REALTOR®, who remains your best source for information about how the housing market is shaping up where you currently live or might like to in the future."
"December sales were down from the previous month in a number of Canada's largest and most active housing markets, indicating a broadly based cooling off for Canadian home sales as 2014 came to an end," said Gregory Klump, CREA's Chief Economist. "Even so, sales remain above year-ago levels in many of the same markets.
"Given the uncertain outlook for oil prices, it's no surprise consumer confidence in Alberta softened and moved some home buyers to the sidelines," said Klump. "With regards to slower activity in Calgary and Edmonton, sales in these two markets had been running strong all year before they returned to levels that are entirely average for the month of December."
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in December stood 7.9 per cent above levels reported in the same month in 2013.
Sales for the month were up from year-ago levels in about two-thirds of all local markets, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, the Greater Toronto Area, and Montreal.
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