Canada: New annual record for Canadian home sales in 2007

Canadian housing activity in the first eleven months of 2007 has already surpassed all previous annual totals, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Some 496,890 homes traded hands for the year-to-date in November 2007, up 2.7 percent from the previous annual record set last year. New annual records have already been reached in every province except British Columbia and Alberta.

Seasonally adjusted sales activity climbed 1.6 per cent compared to the previous month to 42,576 units in November 2007. The increase reflected a month-over-month rise in activity in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In the lattermost region, transactions reached the highest monthly level ever.

Actual (unadjusted) sales activity was up 6.1 per cent in November from the same month last year. This is the highest number of transactions ever for the month of November, surpassing the previous record from November 2005.

The Canadian residential average price rose 11.7 per cent year-over-year in November to $313,645 (£158,406). This was the seventh consecutive month in which the increase in average price has exceeded ten percent and the largest increase since July. Average price broke all previous monthly records in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec, and stood just slightly below record levels on a national basis in Ontario.

“2007 has been a tremendous year for Canada’s housing market, and we expect overall sales activity to edge slightly lower in 2008,” CREAPresident Ann Bosley said. “Prices are also forecast to set new records, but the increase in average price will be smaller in 2008.”

Average House Price In Canada
November 2007

Province	House Price $ (£)
Newfoundland and Labrador	146,164 (73,820)
Prince Edward Island	137,277 (69,331)
Nova Scotia	175,418 (88,594)
New Brunswick	133,878 (67,615)
Quebec	217,097 (109,644)
Ontario	312,509 (157,838)
Manitoba	173,318 (87,534)
Saskatchewan	193,521 (97,737)
Alberta	353,125 (178,345)
British Columbia	452,810 (115,518)