HOUSING MARKET UP IN NOVEMBER Average residential sale price 1.7 per cent
Multi-family starts offset drop in single-detached segment
Housing starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area were trending at 16,019 units in November compared to 15,023 in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of total housing starts.
“The trend in total housing starts moved up in November as an increase in the pace of multifamily starts more than offset a decline in the single-detached segment. After trending down for four consecutive months, multi-family construction picked up in November, supported by a rise in the number of apartment starts,” said Christina Butchart, CMHC’s principal, market analysis for Edmonton, in a news release.
CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market.
In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, since the multiples segment of the market largely drives them, which can be quite variable from one month to the next.
The stand-alone monthly SAAR was 20,372 units in November, up from 12,463 in October.
Actual housing starts rose 15 per cent year-over-year in November, as increased multifamily starts more than offset a decline in single-detached starts.
The average residential MLS sale price in the Edmonton census metropolitan area increased in October by 1.7 per cent from year-ago levels to $371,756. The Realtors Association noted that the average sale price in October was bolstered by the sale of two properties for well over the $3.5 million mark. After 10 months this year, the average MLS sale price has increased by 1.9 per cent from January to October 2014 to $373,439.
Multi-family starts in the Edmonton area increased in October by 15.6 per cent yearover-year to 587 units, according to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association — Edmonton Region (CHBA-ER). Similar to the previous month, stronger row and apartment activity made up for fewer semi-detached starts in October.
Up to the end of October, multiunit starts increased by 70.6 per cent from this time last year to 9,591 units.
With two months remaining, 2015 is already the second-best year on record for multi-family starts in metro Edmonton.
Statistics Canada’s New Housing Price Index (NHPI) for Edmonton was unchanged yearover-year in September.
After three quarters, the index of contractor selling prices was up on average by 0.5 per cent from the same period in 2014.
In contrast, CMHC’s average absorbed new house price for Edmonton increased in September by 9.2 per cent from a year earlier to $603,069.
During the first nine months of 2015 the average absorbed price was up 10 per cent from January to September 2014 to $606,551.