Best July on Record for Canadian MLS® Home Sales

The Canadian Real Estate Association has just released a report indicating that MLS® home sales were up nationally in July 18.2% from July of 2008 and further, were 3.9% above the previous record for July set in 2007. Home sales across Canada in general have now posted month-over-month increases for six consecutive months. The increased sales activity appears to be relatively widespread with over 60% of markets reporting increased activity in July.
The big questions that remains is will this somewhat robust and unexpected turnaround in the overall real estate market last?
Politicians on many fronts appear to be claiming victory over this latest recession however one sobering fact remains. Unemployment still stands a relatively high levels in many provinces across the country and until there is some stability and optimism in the job market, conditions may very well remain somewhat unsettled. Certainly the slump in sales that was experienced from September of 2008 until April or May of this year created some pent-up demand for housing. The fact remains however that consumers will not make major commitments such as buying a home until such time as they are confident in their ongoing employment status.
The rebounding housing market combined with a slowdown in new listing activity has significantly reduced the unsold housing inventory that has lingered in many markets for a number of months. In July there were a total of 219,982 homes listed for sale on the MLS® systems of real estate boards nationwide. This represents a 12.4% reduction in inventory compared to July 2008 and is the largest decline in active listings in more than six years.
Locally, new listing activity in the MLS® system of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board is down by 4% which represents a total of 163 properties. Meanwhile, expired listings have increased by 29% with 1,765 property listings have expired to the end of July as many sellers, frustrated with no buyers have removed their homes from the market pending an improvement to the economy.