Listings at all-time low in December as national home prices push even higher


Houses for sale in Ottawa

‘The housing affordability problem facing the country is likely to get worse before it gets better’

Publishing date:

Jan 17, 2022  •  20 minutes ago  •  2 minute read  •  Join the conversation

A for sale sign is displayed outside a home in Toronto on Dec. 13, 2021.
A for sale sign is displayed outside a home in Toronto on Dec. 13, 2021. Photo by REUTERS/Carlos Osorio files

Canadian home sales inched higher in December as the number of listings hit an all-time low, according to recent data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The organization said sales were up by 0.2 per cent month-over-month, but was down 9.9 per cent from the record posted in December 2020. The number of newly listed properties fell about three per cent from November to December.

The actual national average home price stood at $713,500 in December, coming off the record $720,000 in November though seeing growth on an annual basis. The MLS® Home Price Index, CREA’s tool for assessing home prices and trends, rose a record 26.6 per cent year-over-year as a lack of supply continues to put upward pressure on housing. Actual, not seasonally adjusted, prices rose by 17.7 per cent.

“With the housing supply issues facing the country having only gotten worse to start 2022, take any decline in sales early in the year with a grain of salt because the demand hasn’t gone away, there just won’t be much to buy until a little later in this spring”  CREA chair Cliff Stevenson said in a press release. “But when those listings eventually start to show up, the spring market this year will almost certainly be another headline grabber.”

While the winter months usually see a lull in market activity, the real estate industry has been seeing a heated market.

“The winter so far has been boisterous,” Phil Soper, chief executive officer at Royal LePage, told Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn last week. “Volumes have been higher than typical at this time of year. It looks a lot like the winter of 2020 … and I think that is the theme that’s going to carry right through the spring market.”

Supply shortages have become a critical issue for the Canadian housing market. A report by the Bank of Nova Scotia found that Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba have the lowest housing stock per capita, exacerbating affordability issues.

“There are currently fewer properties listed for sale in Canada than at any point on record,” said CREA’s senior economist Shaun Cathcart in the release. “So unfortunately, the housing affordability problem facing the country is likely to get worse before it gets better.”

“Policymakers are starting to say the right things, but now they have to act to change this course we’re on,” Cathcart added. “An aggressive national push to build more homes is what will address the issue, but it will probably have to be a greater amount of building than anything we’ve ever undertaken. A touch over the status quo won’t cut it.”

• Email: shughes@postmedia.com | Twitter:





Source link