The national average price for homes sold in May 2014 was $416,584, up 7.1 per cent from the same month last year, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported June 16.
However, the national average is skewed upwards by Vancouver and Toronto, Canada's most expensive real estate markets, said the association. Excluding these two markets from the calculation, the average price is more modest $336,373, and the year-over-year increase shrinks to 5.3 per cent.
MLS® home sales across Canada rose 5.9 per cent from April to May 2014 the largest month-over-month increase in nearly four years, reported the CREA. Sales rose month over month in four out of every five local housing markets, including almost all large urban markets. The largest gains driving the national increase were posted in Calgary, Greater Toronto and Montreal.
"Over the past 25 years, that widespread a monthly sales increase has been recorded only a handful of times,"said CREA president Beth Crosbie.
Year over year, May sales were up in about 60 per cent of all local markets across Canada, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Nationwide, actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in May stood 4.8 per cent above levels reported in May last year, and 3.8 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of May.
CREA also updated its forecast for MLS® home sales activity for 2014 and 2015.
The association reported that bleak winter weather made for a slow start to 2014 national sales activity and that, as the first quarter ended, sales momentum heading into spring was constrained by a continuing shortage of listings in a number of local markets. The rise in newly listed properties in April and May supported an increase in sales activity, said the CREA.
CREA is forecasting national sales to reach 463,400 units in 2014, an increase of 1.2 per cent compared with 2013. This is little changed from CREA's previous forecast of 463,700 sales (rising 1.3 per cent) published in March.
Activity is still expected to remain in line with its 10-year average and to hold within fairly short reach of 450,000 units for the seventh consecutive year, said the association.
British Columbia is forecast to post the largest year-over-year increase in activity (8.3 per cent), and make the biggest contribution to the increase in national sales activity.
