Home sales suffer third dip from peak
Canadian home sales fell again as the market shifts into a lower gear from the record pace set at the beginning of the year, but sellers still hold the upper hand in much of the country.
The number of homes that changed hands dropped 8.4 per cent in June from the month before, the third consecutive decline after hitting an all-time record in March, according to data released Thursday from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Still, benchmark prices managed to rise 0.9 per cent as activity remained elevated by historical standards.
Still, last month saw the highest number of sales ever for the month of June, the data show.
“While there is still a lot of activity in many housing markets across Canada, things have noticeably calmed down in the last few months,” Cliff Stevenson, the real estate association's chair, said in a news release accompanying the numbers. “There remains a shortage of supply in many parts of the country, but at least there isn't the same level of competition among buyers we were seeing a few months ago.”
Canada became among the hottest home markets in the world over the last year. The record-low mortgage rates and pandemic-induced demand for larger living spaces met a severe lack of supply in the country. But now, with vaccination rates rising and COVID-19 infections falling, some of the factors that propelled Canada's pandemic housing boom are starting to ease, while the immigration that traditionally underpins the market remains muted.