The Canadian resale housing market continues to ease up. July sales dropped drastically when compared with the same month last year. This slow-down is not surprising in the face of tighter mortgage regulations and rising interest rates.

"The level of July sales remained below the expected long-term trend. The market has become more balanced following record monthly sales through most of the winter and early spring," said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Bill Johnston.

While July sales were down compared to last year, the number of new listings in the marketplace also fell. This means there was enough competition between buyers to exert upward pressure on price.

Ontario -  Sales and new listings down, average price up in July

Toronto,  August 5, 2010 - Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 6,564 sales in July – a 34% dip from the record 9,967 sales reported in July 2009. New listings, at 10,825, dropped to the lowest level for the month of July since 2002.

Total sales through the first seven months of 2010 were up 12% compared to the same period in 2009.

Notwithstanding the fact that price trends vary at the neighbourhood level in GTA, the average price for July transactions was $420,482, representing a 6% increase over July 2009. Over the first seven months of 2010, the average selling price was up 12% annually to $432,253.

"Market conditions promoting growth in the average selling price have remained in place. While July sales were down compared to last year, the number of new listings in the marketplace also fell. This means there was enough competition between buyers to exert upward pressure on price," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

In July, the median price was $361,000, from the $339,900 recorded during July of 2009.

Ottawa, August 5, 2010 - Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,149 residential properties in July through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system compared with 1,578 in July 2009, a decrease of 27.2%. Of those sales, 294 were in the condominium property class, while 855 were in the residential property class.

“Last July saw a record high number of sales in Ottawa, which was the result of pent-up demand as the market came out of a downturn. What we see this year is a return to more seasonal sales volumes,” said Board President Pierre de Varennes. “The ratio of listed properties to sold properties indicates that Ottawa remained in a seller’s market last month, and sale prices continued to rise at a steady pace, as they generally do here in the national capital,” he added.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in July in the Ottawa area was $321,827, an increase of 7.1% over July 2009. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $249,674, an increase of 15.2% over July 2009. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $346,638, an increase of 7.1% over July 2009.

British Columbia - Homebuyers and sellers less active in July

Vancouver, Aug 4, 2010 - Home sales activity in Greater Vancouver was quieter last month than most Julys over the past decade, with residential sales, prices, and the number of homes listed for sale trending downward in recent months.

Greater Vancouver area recorded 2,255 in July 2010. This represents a 45.2% decline from the 4,114 sales in July 2009, the highest selling July ever recorded, and a 24.1% decline compared to June 2010.

Looking back further, last month’s residential sales represent a 3.7% increase over the 2,174 residential sales in July 2008, a 41.8% decline compared to July 2007’s 3,873 sales, and a 17.5% decline compared to July 2006’s 2,732 sales.

“With the pace of home sales and listings easing off in our market, we’ve begun to see a leveling of home prices from the record highs seen in the spring, creating greater affordability,” Jake Moldowan, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president said. “Activity in today’s marketplace is clearly trending in favour of buyers.”

The number of properties listed for sale on the market has been trending downward since spring, with 4,138 new listings in July compared to April’s peak of 7,648. New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver on the (MLS®) declined 17.9% in July 2010 compared to July 2009, when 5,041 properties were listed for sale.

At 16,431, the total number of property listings on the MLS® in July declined 6.5% compared to last month and increased 33% compared to July 2009.

“It’s currently taking home sellers who work with a REALTOR®, on average, 45 days to sell their property, which is a historically healthy timeframe for people on both sides of a transaction,” Moldowan said.

Since spring, housing prices have decreased 2.8% compared to the all-time high reached in April when the residential benchmark price was $593,419. Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 9.1% to $577,074 in July 2010 from $528,821 in July 2009.

 Alberta – Summer cool down continues

Calgary, August 3, 2010 – The number of single family homes sold in July 2010 in the city of Calgary was down 42% from the same time a year ago, and condominium sales saw a decrease of 44% from the same time a year ago.

“Calgary’s housing market is cooling off after its record-setting pace in the post recession period. This slow-down is not all that surprising in the face of tighter mortgage regulations and rising interest rates.” says Sano Stante, Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®) president elect.

“The sense of urgency seen last summer, fall and winter in the lead-up to tighter mortgage-lending measures has diminished,” says Stante. “Rising mortgage rates and increased inventories will be the primary head-wind facing Calgary’s housing market, but improving job prospects will offer some tail winds in the latter half of 2010 and into 2011.”

"We are seeing relative stability in our average and median prices for the Calgary market,” says Stante. “A gradual return to moderate interest rates will not trigger any kind of steep decline in prices in our housing market. Prices may soften in select markets where inventory has bulked up, but for the most part they will remain relatively sticky as the economy improves.”

“Nonetheless with the combination of historically low interest rates and a large inventory of homes there are some great buys out there. This presents a great opportunity to get into the market or to trade up,” adds Stante.

“Indeed Alberta and Calgary’s economic recovery is lagging behind the rest of the country right now. But on the bright side we see this trend reversing itself as we move into 2011. We expect Alberta to lead in economic growth and recovery—outperforming much of the country in 2011,” says Stante.

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Information in this report is collected from the Real Estate Boards operating in each area. The average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.