Canada’s resale housing activity improved in February with home sales increasing 1.4%, according to Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) numbers released Thursday.
CREA found that activity was up in all local markets, though it noted that new listings in Vancouver declined.
According to CREA numbers, the national average price for homes sold in February 2012 was $372,763, up 2% from the same month a year ago.
“In February 2011, the national average price was stretched upward by a spike in high-end home sales in some of Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods, and a replay of that was not expected this year,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist.
Klump commented that while that expectation proved sound, other factors are now keeping the national average price high.
“The main [factor] is the housing market in Toronto, where a tight balance between supply and demand continues to drive some of the strongest home price gains in the country, particularly for single detached properties,” he said.
