Major Cities Report Victoria Spring Market Begins To Grow Just In Time For Summer A total of 775 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this May, 1.8 per cent more than the 761 properties sold in May 2022 and a 21.7 per cent increase from April 2023. “The month of May marks the highest number of sales we’ve seen since April of last year,” said Victoria Real Estate Board Chair Graden Sol. “While we haven’t seen the number of total sales we would expect in a spring market, the month of May marks the fourth consecutive month with sales higher than the month previous. With momentum building, there’s an indication of consumer optimism in the market heading into June. However, if the ongoing lack of homes for sale persists and inventory is not added, we risk a return to an overheated market with pressure on pricing.” There were 2,189 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of May 2023, an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to the previous month of April and a 23.3 per cent increase from the 1,776 active listings for sale at the end of May 2022. Source Vancouver Competition Heats Up Among Buyers As Summer Arrives While the year started slower than usual, Metro Vancouver’s housing market is showing signs of heating up as summer arrives, with prices increasing for the sixth consecutive month. “Back in January, few people would have predicted prices to be up as much as they are – ourselves included. Our forecast projected prices to be up modestly in 2023 by about two per cent at year-end. Instead, Metro Vancouver home prices are already up about six per cent or more across all home types at the midway point of the year.” said Andrew Lis, REBGV director of economics and data analytics Sales of detached homes in May 2023 reached 1,043, a 30.7 per cent increase from the 798 detached sales recorded in May 2022. The benchmark price for a detached home is $1,953,600. This represents a 6.7 per cent decrease from May 2022 and a 1.8 per cent increase compared to April 2023. Source Calgary May Sales Reach A Record High Thanks to a significant gain in apartment condominium sales, May sales rose to 3,120, a new record high for the month. While the monthly gains have not outweighed earlier declines, this does reflect a shift from the declines reported at the start of the year. At the same time, we continue to see fewer new listings on the market than last year, causing inventory levels to fall. With a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 85 per cent and months of supply of one month, conditions continue to favor the seller placing further upward pressure on home prices. Persistently tight market conditions drove further price growth this month. In May, the unadjusted benchmark price reached $557,000, over one per cent higher than last month and nearly three per cent higher than last year’s monthly peak price of $543,000. Source Edmonton “Edmonton Sees Year-Over-Year Growth In Detached Average Price” Total residential unit sales in the Greater Edmonton Area (GEA) real estate market for May 2023 hit 2,719, decreasing 6.8% compared to May 2022 but increasing 34.4% from April 2023. New residential listings were down 17% year-over-year from May 2022, while also noting an increase of 14.2% from April 2023. Overall inventory in the GEA was down 5.9% from May of last year, and up 2.6% from the previous month. “We’ve certainly seen the real estate market come to life in the month of May,” says REALTORS® Association of Edmonton 2023 Board Chair Melanie Boles. “Although small, there were improvements in the year-over-year detached average prices as well as row/townhouse and apartment condominium unit sales.” Total residential average prices hit $420,507, a 1.5% decrease from May 2022, and an increase of 2.8% from April 2023. Detached homes averaged $512,338, a 1.2% year-over-year increase and an increase of 2.3% from April 2023. Source Toronto Strengthening Demand And Lack Of Housing Supply Pushes Up Pricing In The GTA The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing market continued to improve from a sales perspective in May 2023. Unfortunately, the supply of homes for sale did not keep up with the demand for ownership housing. Sales as a share of new listings were up dramatically compared to a year ago. This is a clear signal that competition between buyers increased substantially compared to last year, resulting in the average selling price reaching almost $1.2 million last month. “The demand for ownership housing has picked up markedly in recent months. Many homebuyers have recalibrated their housing needs in the face of higher borrowing costs and are moving back into the market. In addition, strong rent growth and record population growth on the back of immigration has also supported increased home sales. The supply of listings hasn’t kept up with sales, so we have seen upward pressure on selling prices during the spring,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark was down by 6.9 per cent year-over-year in May 2023, but up by 3.2 per cent on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis compared to April 2023. Source |