Major Cities Report
Victoria
Victoria real estate spring market will be impacted by COVID-19
A total of 608 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this March, five per cent fewer than the 640 properties sold in March 2019 but eight per cent more than the previous month of February 2020.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, we have tracked a predictable downturn of sales in our market. Moving forward it is hard to predict what our spring market will look like, but it will likely be very different from recent years as our entire community slows down to stay healthy.” Read More
Vancouver
Home buyers and sellers adjust their activities in March amid challenging circumstances
Metro Vancouver’s housing market saw steady home buyer demand to begin March and a levelling off of activity as the month went on and concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak intensified. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,524 in March 2020, a 46.1 percent increase from the 1,727 sales recorded in March 2019, and a 17.4 percent increase from the 2,150 homes sold in February 2020.
Last month’s sales were 19.9 per cent below the 10-year March sales average. Daily residential sales on the region’s MLS® were 138 on average in the first ten business days of the month. In the final ten business days of the month, the daily average declined to 93 sales. Read More
Calgary
COVID-19 weighing on housing market
After a strong start to 2020, economic conditions have dramatically changed, as COVID-19 is impacting all aspects of society. March sales activity started the month strong, but quickly changed, as concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 brought about social distancing measures.
By the end of March, sales activity had fallen 11 per cent compared to last year. This is 37 per cent lower than long-term averages. The drop in sales pushed March levels to the lowest recorded since 1995.
New listings dropped by 19 per cent this month. This decline in new listings compared to sales caused supply levels to ease and helped prevent a larger increase in oversupply. Overall, the months of supply remain just below five months, similar to levels recorded last year. Read More
Edmonton
Residential Unit Sales Down 2.6% from this time last year
Total residential unit sales in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) real estate market for March 2020 decreased 2.59% compared to March 2019 and increased 10.31% from February 2020. Overall inventory in the Edmonton CMA fell 12.66% from March of last year but increased 5.75% from February 2020.
All residential average prices are down to $343,951, a 3.78% decrease from March 2019, and down 1.97% from February 2020. Overall, all residential listings averaged 60 days on market, a 9.09% decrease year-over-year, and decreased by fourteen days compared to the previous month. Read More
Toronto
Despite a strong increase in sales for March 2020 as a whole, a clear break in market activity amidst COVID-19
Toronto Regional Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 8,012 home sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in March 2020 – up by 12.3 per cent compared to 7,132 sales reported in March 2019. However, despite a strong increase in sales for March 2020 as a whole, there was a clear break in market activity between the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods.
2020 started with a near-record pace for home sales in the first quarter and double-digit annual rates of price growth. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has clearly changed this year’s outlook. TRREB will be releasing a forecast update in mid-April, once we have a longer time series of data since the onset of the strong social distancing measures, the concern over economic growth and the related employment picture. Read More |
