Home sales rise across Canada

Growth slightly slower than average in N.L.

The Newfoundland and Lab-rador housing market had slower growth than the Canadian average in June, and was nowhere near as hot as it was the same time last year.

According to statistics released by the Canadian Real Estate Association on Monday, the seasonally adjusted volume of national home sales in the country rose 3.3 per cent from May to June this year, while Newfoundland and Labrador’s rose 1.7 per cent over the same period, and actual — not seasonally adjusted — sales dropped 28 per cent from June 2012 to June this year, far below the national average of a 0.6 per cent decline over the same time.

Overall, the statistics paint a strong picture of the housing market, with home sales improving in twothirds of all local markets in June. The national average sale price of a home rose 4.8 cent between June 2012 and last month, while Newfoundland saw even stronger growth: $265,051 in June 2012 to $289,828 this year, a gain of 9.3 per cent, behind just Saskatoon (a growth of 16.6 per cent) and Saint John, N.B., (rising 16 per cent) across the country.

The first half of 2013 has been more sluggish than the same period last year, too. From January to June this year, 240,078 homes have been sold across the country, marking a 6.9 per cent drop from the first half of 2012. In Newfoundland and Labrador, 2,793 homes have traded hands in 2013, a 23.1 per cent drop from 3,632 during January to June of 2012.

Late last week, Statistics Canada released data that indicate St. John’s saw the second-biggest rise in average new house prices among Canada’s major metropolitan areas, although price growth has started to taper off. The average house in St. John’s was 47.2 per cent more expensive in 2012 than it was in 2007, far outstripping the Canadian average of eight per cent over that time, and second only to Regina’s 53.8 per cent. At the other end of the scale, the average new house price in Victoria in 2012 was 14.3 per cent less than it was in 2007.

Gregory Klump, chief economist for the Canadian Real Estate Association, said mortgage rates edging up likely prompted some buyers with pre-approved mortgages to get into the market before rates went higher.

“We have seen this happen before. If fixed mortgage rates continue holding where they are or edge slightly higher, sales may ebb over the summer and early autumn, with slightly higher borrowing costs picking up where the finance minister left off last year to keep the housing market in check,” said Klump in a statement released by the association.