Canadian home sales hit all-time record in December

Jan 15 2021, 9:07 pm

Canadian home sales hit an all-time record in December 2020, rounding off a strong year in the real estate market, even with the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a recent report by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) national home sales rose by 7.2% year-over-year and activity was up 47.2%. This was the largest increase in 11 years.

Most of the activity (20%) was driven in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Greater Vancouver.

From November to December, the number of newly listed properties rose 3.4% with the average sale prices across the country seeing a 17.1% gain at $607,280.

However, the national average price is heavily influenced by sales in Greater Vancouver and the GTA, two of Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets. Excluding these two markets from calculations cuts almost $130,000 from the national average price.

“It’s official, despite all the challenges, 2020 was a record year for Canadian resale housing activity. While momentum continues into 2021, surging COVID cases and a return to April-like lockdowns in some provinces means we’ll be revisiting some of those virtual technology solutions to process deals in the first few months of the year,” stated Costa Poulopoulos, Chair of CREA in the report.

“Hopefully we’ll have the current wave more under control by the time the spring market rolls around, which is shaping up to be a very active one.”

Across the country, home sale prices also saw an increase. The largest gains since last year were recorded in Quinte & District, Simcoe & District, Woodstock-Ingersoll and the Lakelands region of Ontario cottage country.

Year-over-year price gains were in the 10% to 15% range in the GTA, Mississauga, and Quebec City.  Across BC, and in Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and St. John’s Newfoundland prices increased within the 5% to 10% range.

Prices were up 1.5% and 2.7% in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively.

Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, the real estate market saw a strong finish for the year.

Clarrie FeinsteinClarrie Feinstein

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