Wave of bullish articles

More news on how hot the RE market is. We'll track these so that we can see how long before the stories flip-flop...


Canadian homes pricier than ever
Units sold down slightly: report

Carrie Tait
Financial Post
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
CREDIT: (Photo: Reuters)
The average price jumps to a record high of $311,101 in February.
TORONTO -- Housing prices may be at a record high, but it isn’t stopping Canadians from buying new homes.
The average price of a home rang in at $311,101 in February, up 10% from last February's price of $282,744 and topping an all-time housing price high set in January, 2006, according to data released by the Canadian Real Estate Association on Wednesday.
A number of cities experienced new housing price highs including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Hamilton-Burlington, London & St. Thomas, Ottawa, Quebec City and Saint John, according to measurements collected by the Multiple Listing Service and released by CREA.
Seasonally adjusted home sales in Canada’s major markets totaled 29,955 in February, down just 1% or 312 from 30,267 in January, 2007, when unit sales reached the highest level for any month. Toronto dragged down February’s sales results, but slowness in this market was offset by higher activity in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and Saskatoon, CREA said.
Seasonally adjusted new residential listing clocked in at 46,323 units last month, down 3.2% from Janurary. Vancouver and Toronto suffered the most. With less listings, the housing market became tighter than any point since September 2005. Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Winnipeg have been pinched the most, CREA said.
Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist, says the housing market will continue to be strong on the back of recent mortgage interest rate cuts, a healthy job market and rising incomes.
“With momentum for resale housing activity showing few signs of fatigue so far, the spring home buying season this year may be one for the record books,” he said.
ctait@nationalpost.com