Resale housing activity was on the rise in B.C. last month, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
In a report released Monday, CREA said residential sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) rose 7.3% to 5,733 units in October when compared with September.
The total value of residential sales activity was up 9.7% in October to $2.97 billion when compared with the month before.
The association said approximately 75% of local markets across Canada posted jumps in seasonally adjusted sales activity last month, with Toronto and Vancouver leading the way.
“The continuation of low interest rates is supporting sales activity, which has been improving over the past few months in a number of major markets including Vancouver,” said CREA president Georges Pahud. He added that national housing market trends are improving.
Sales activity across Canada in October built on similar increases in both August and September, and has risen 13.3% since a July low.
Overall, CREA believes the market is returning to normal as sales activity last month reached a level halfway between the recessionary low in December 2008 and a record high last December.
Still, residential sales activity in B.C. last month remained 36.1% below levels seen in October of 2009.
Earlier this month, CREA predicted residential sales activity would decline 14.9% next year to 61,900 units compared with 2010 (See “B.C. MLS home sales activity to lower in 2011: CREA ” – BIV Business Today, November 5).
In an interview with Business in Vancouver, CREA chief economist Gregory Klump said concerns about higher interest rates, tighter mortgage regulations and confusion around the HST drove buyers to the market earlier this year.
That created anomalous conditions in terms of high sales activity, Klump explained, meaning that next year’s numbers are likely to be lower in comparison.
“Early 2010 is going to cast a long shadow,” Klump said. “We’re seeing year-over-year comparisons continue to be stretched, and that will continue into the second half of 2011, but really what it’s doing is masking the stability that’s there."