Canadian home sales surge to record high in July, real estate group says

[TORONTO] Canadian home sales rose 26 per cent in July from June, posting the highest monthly level ever recorded, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Monday, as pent-up demand following lockdowns continued to fuel the market.

It was the third straight month of sharply higher sales after a record decline in April, when businesses were closed to help contain the coronavirus pandemic.

"A big part of what we're seeing right now is the snap back in activity that would have otherwise happened earlier this year," said Shaun Cathcart, CREA's senior economist. "Recall that before the lockdowns, we were heading into the tightest spring market in almost 20 years."

Among Canada's largest markets, sales rose 49.5 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area and were up 43.9 per cent in Greater Vancouver, the industry group said.

Actual sales, not seasonally adjusted, rose 30.5 per cent from a year earlier, while the group's Home Price Index was up 7.4 per cent from July last year.

With the rebound in sales activity outpacing the recovery in new supply, the national sales-to-new listings ratio rose to one of the highest levels on record at 73.9 per cent from 63.1 per cent in June, CREA said.

"With many markets extremely tight and the pandemic making a mockery of typical sales patterns, August is already shaping up to be another hot month," said Brian DePratto, a senior economist at TD Bank.

REUTERS