Although the number of sales in March decreased from last year at this time, it was still a robust and busy start to the spring season. March tends to be the early indicator of the spring resale market pace, so we anticipate April’s numbers will be a better indication of just how the spring market will perform, which tends to be the peak time of year for resales.
Ontario - Strong Spring Market
Toronto, 04 April 2022 - There were almost 11,000 Greater Toronto Area (GTA) home sales reported in March 2022, capping off the third-best March and second-best first quarter on record. Tight market conditions continued to support a double-digit annual pace of price growth, with an average selling price of $1.3 million. The average selling price dipped slightly month-over-month, bucking the regular seasonal trend.
“Now is the time for governments to govern and focus on measures that are proven to increase housing supply. The GTA population will experience rapid growth in the coming years as our region’s economic strength and diversity continue to attract people from around the world. In order to sustain this growth, we need an adequate housing supply and choice. This needs to be the focus of policymakers rather than short-term and ineffective measures to artificially suppress demand. Evidence-based decision-making should inform government policies, and we encourage representatives at all levels of government to think big and act decisively to improve needed housing supply in a significant way,” said TRREB President Kevin Crigger.
GTA REALTORS® reported 10,955 sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in March 2022, representing a 30% decline compared to the record result of 15,628 in March 2021. While sales were down year-over-year for all major market segments, condominium apartment transactions dipped by a much lesser annual rate.
New listings were also down on a year-over-year basis, but by a much lesser annual rate than sales. This suggests that while market conditions remained very tight, home buyers did not experience the same level of competition from other buyers compared to a year earlier.
The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 34.8% year-over-year in March 2022. This annual rate of increase was down slightly from February. The average selling price was up by 18.5% year-over-year. The annual growth rates for the MLS HPI® and average selling price differed, in part, because the mix of homes sold in March 2022 shifted in favour of condominium apartments which generally sell for a lower average price compared to other home types.
“Competition between home buyers in the GTA remains very strong in most neighbourhoods and market segments. However, we did experience more balance in the first quarter of 2022 compared to last year. If this trend continues, it is possible that the pace of price growth could moderate as we move through the year,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
Ottawa - March Resales Indicate Strong Spring Market
Ottawa, April 5, 2022 -- Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 2,011 residential properties in March through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 2,274 in March 2021, a decrease of 12%. March’s sales included 1,493 in the residential-property class, down 12% from a year ago, and 518 in the condominium-property category, a decrease of 10% from March 2021. The five-year average for total unit sales in March is 1,792.
“Although the number of sales in March decreased from last year at this time, it was still a robust and busy start to the spring season. Transactions increased 42% over February (590 units) and were 12% higher than the 5-year average. Last March was unseasonably warm in comparison, and the lion-like weather that pervaded most of this March may have played a role. More likely, the lifting of some restrictions and opportunity for unfettered travel during the spring break had peoples’ attention turning towards other activities during the month,” states Ottawa Real Estate Board President Penny Torontow.
“March tends to be the early indicator of the spring resale market pace, so we anticipate April’s numbers will be a better indication of just how the spring market will perform, which tends to be the peak time of year for resales,” she adds.
The average sale price for a condominium-class property in March was $479,405, an increase of 10% from 2021, while the average sale price for a residential-class property was $853,615, increasing 13% from a year ago. With year-to-date average sale prices at $831,122 for residential and $467,915 for condominiums, these values represent a 14% and 13 percent increase over 2021, respectively.*
“Average prices continue on their upward trend, albeit only increasing 2-3% over February’s figures, the year over year percentage increases of 13-14% validate that the housing supply shortage will continue to put strong upward pressure on prices until that is remedied.”
“Last month saw 2,632 new listings enter the MLS® System, and although 6% lower than March 2021, this is still 4% (or 100 units) above the 5-year average. Residential-class property inventory is approximately 10.5% higher than last year at this time, with condominium-class inventory down 12%. Overall, we are just slightly over (.6%) a half month’s supply of inventory and require at least four months of inventory to be considered within a balanced market.”
“It is encouraging to see new inventory entering the resale market. However, these properties are being quickly absorbed due to the unrelenting high demand, and more listings are crucial to meeting this need,” Torontow advises.
“We appreciate the provincial government has introduced the first phase of its More Homes For Everyone Act to tackle the housing shortage by implementing measures, including working with municipalities to get homes built faster and increasing the Non-Resident Speculation Tax. This is a good start, and we are hopeful that with the application of these and further measures, Ottawa’s many potential home buyers waiting on the sidelines will finally be able to get a foothold in our local market.”
In addition to residential sales, OREB Members assisted clients with renting 1,291 properties since the beginning of the year compared to 1,079 by March 2021.
Alberta - "March sees a large number of listings hit the market"
Edmonton, April 4, 2022 -- Total residential unit sales in the Greater Edmonton Area (GEA) real estate market for March 2022 increased 45.4% compared to February 2022 and increased 34.7% from March 2021. New residential listings increased both 7.6% year-over-year and 47.7% month-over-month from February 2022.
For March, single-family home unit sales are up 21.2% from March 2021 and up 37.7% from February 2022 at 1,920. Condo unit sales increased 67.1% from March 2021 and were up 62.9% from February 2022. Duplex/rowhouse unit sales were up 54.2% year-over-year and increased 45.1% month-over-month.
Single-family homes averaged $503,711, a 9.9% year-over-year increase and a month-over-month increase of 2.0%. Condominiums sold for an average of $245,070, seeing an increase of 6.7% year-over-year as well as an 8.4% increase compared to February 2022. Duplex prices increased 11.8% from March 2021, selling at $389,321, a 3.8% increase from February 2022.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark price* in the GEA came in at $369,700, a 9.4% increase from March 2021, and up 4.5% from February 2022.
“The Greater Edmonton and Area market continues to surprise us as we enter into what is normally the start of the busy season of real estate,” says REALTORS® Association of Edmonton Chair Paul Gravelle. “Although we are seeing slightly lower increases for average sale prices across all categories, there has been a huge increase in the number of listings hitting the market as well the number of sales in the month of March.”
Single-family homes averaged 27 days on the market, a 15-day decrease from February 2022. Condos averaged 51 days on the market, decreasing by 10 days month-over-month, while duplexes averaged 29 days on the market, a 13-day decrease compared to last month. Overall, all residential listings averaged 34 days on the market, decreasing by eight days year-over-year and down 13 days as compared to February 2022.
British Columbia - Continued growth in new listings a hopeful sign for home buyers in the Fraser Valley
SURREY, April 4, 2022 – For the third consecutive month, new listings in the Fraser Valley continued to climb in March giving buyers more to choose from, helping to increase overall active inventory to levels not seen since last July.
Property sales remain robust, as Benchmark prices, the price of a ‘typical’ home, continued to increase month over month.
In March, the FVREB processed 2,580 residential and commercial sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), a decrease of 22.5% compared to March 2021 and 41.4% more than were processed in February.
Sandra Benz, President of the Board, said of this month’s statistics, “Sales were strong again in March as more new listings continued to come on stream. We’re hopeful this will contribute to a slowing in price growth, which is good news for the home-buying public. Other encouraging signs, such as less open house traffic and fewer multiple offers, may help us get to a more balanced market, however until the fundamental issue of lack of supply is addressed, we won’t see that happen anytime soon.”
The Board received 4,580 new listings in March, a decrease of 10.0% compared to March of last year, and 22.4% more than were processed in February. Total active inventory for March was 4,699, a decrease of 6.2% compared to last year’s 5,012 active listings, however 24.0% higher than last month.
Baldev Gill, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, added, “We may not see the impact of recent interest rate hikes on the market trends until later in 2022. With fixed rates nearly double what they were a year ago, new
homebuyers will likely be more impacted than other segments of the home-buying public, as mortgage stress test conditions become more stringent. We hope to see equal efforts from the government to address inventory issues to help make housing more affordable.”
Across Fraser Valley, in March, the average number of days to sell a single-family detached home was 12 and a townhome was 14 days. Apartments took, on average, 11 days to sell.
MLS® HPI Benchmark Price Activity
• Single Family Detached: At $1,726,900, the Benchmark price for an FVREB single-family detached home
increased 3.4% compared to February 2022 and increased 39.5% compared to March 2021.
• Townhomes: At $886,400, the Benchmark price for an FVREB townhome increased 5.4% compared
to February 2022 and increased 41.9% compared to March 2021.
• Apartments: At $643,000, the Benchmark price for an FVREB apartment/condo increased 4.6%
compared to February 2022 and increased 38.2% compared to March 2021.
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