The Canadian Real Estate Association reported today that national existing home sales via the association’s national multiple listing service in November rose to the fourth-highest seasonally adjusted monthly level on record.
And sales activity remains on track to set a new annual record in 2005, the association reported.
Transactions for the first 11 months of 2005 were half a percentage point lower than total MLS home sales recorded in 2004. The seasonally adjusted annual rate projects a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusting for seasonal variations in real estate activity.
A seasonally adjusted total of 41,724 homes traded hands in November, representing a gain of 1.6 percent compared to the previous month. Higher activity in Alberta and Ontario more than offset fewer sales in British Columbia and Quebec, the association reported.
Year-to-date, transactions were running 4.9 percent ahead of levels recorded during the first 11 months of last year.
Sales activity reached its highest monthly level on record in Alberta and New Brunswick, and set new records for the month of November on a national basis and in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Year-to-date, actual (unadjusted) sales increased compared to the same period in 2004 in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Seasonally adjusted MLS residential new listings totaled 64,621 units in November, a decline of 0.8 percent from October. The decline in new listings and an increase in sales caused the national resale housing market to tighten in November compared to the previous month.
Seasonally adjusted dollar volume totaled about $9.1 billion (in U.S. dollars) in November – the third highest monthly level on record.
Dollar volume set a new monthly record in Alberta, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and reached its highest level ever for the month of November in every other province except Prince Edward Island.
The national MLS residential average price hit $219,060 in November, shattering all previous monthly records, the association reported.
Average home prices rose 11 percent compared to the same month in 2004. November was also the sixth consecutive month in which year-over-year price growth exceeded 10 percent. MLS residential average price reached its highest monthly level on record in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and set new records for the month of November in every other province except Newfoundland, the association announced.
The report includes all housing types. MLS data is available from the Conference Board of Canada at www.conferenceboard.ca/Weblinx.
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