The Canadian housing market remains “balanced overall” says the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), and that’s saying a lot, considering. Prices and sales numbers varied even more wildly than they usually do from city to city. In half of all markets, sales were up; the increase was 1.8% in October compared to September. This was enough to push annual sales to their second-highest level in six years. The average price of a home in Canada, with Toronto and Vancouver markets removed from the calculation, rose 2.5% in October on a year-over-year basis. It’s difficult to see how anyone could characterize such modest price growth as a sign of overvaluation.

The Toronto and Vancouver markets continue to operate according to their own unique conditions, quite removed from what is happening in other markets around the country. In Toronto, perennial high demand for a limited supply of single detached homes continues to push prices up. CREA says October’s prices were up 10.33% year-over-year, and even higher, 15.33%, in Vancouver. This high price growth in the two major cities was enough to push the national average from that modest 2.5% already mentioned to 8.3%.

Meanwhile, in both cities an “ample supply” of relatively affordable condominiums acts as a counterbalance to the short supply of expensive detached homes. This situation is unlikely to change any time soon, according to CREA, and price gains for detached homes will continue to outstrip condo prices. CREA president Pauline Aunger noted that low interest rates continue to support home sales activity across Canada.

The national price increase of 8.3% means little if you are buying or selling in a city like Calgary, or Regina. Alberta’s largest city led the country in losses. Sales in Calgary were down 36.4 per cent from one year ago, the highest decline seen in any Canadian city. Province-wide, sales were down 28.9%. Average prices in Calgary are down 4.4% compared to a year ago; in Alberta, the decline was 3.9%. There were also double-digit declines in the oil-dependent cities of Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina.

CREA does not specify what impact, if any, the Calgary market may have had on the national average price, saying only that lower sales in that city acted as an offset to the gains made elsewhere.

New listings grew by 0.9% in October compared to September, giving a national sales-to-new listings ratio of 57.9, at the high end of the 40–60 range considered balanced. This indicates a tightening balance between supply and demand, approaching sellers’ market conditions. Several markets in BC and Ontario were above the 60 threshold in October.

CREA : National Housing Market Balanced Despite Wide Variations from City to City by Josephine Nolan | Condo.ca