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RBC has just released our latest monthly housing market update entitled “Soft start to the 2018 spring housing market in April".
Highlights of the report:
Existing home sales slipped 2.9% lower in April, building on a 0.2% dip in March. Declines over the last two months were still much more modest than the 19% plunge over January and February as new required mortgage stress tests took a toll on sales.
We continue to expect most of the adjustment to the new stress tests is behind us. The persistence of soft resale data also, though, adds to the evidence that the cooling impact on housing activity could be longer-lived than prior regulatory moves.
The largest drop in sales in April was in Ontario (-5.3%) although declines were posted in most regions. Only Saskatchewan (+8.7%), New Brunswick (+4.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+14.7%) posted sales increases in April.
New listings fell by 4.8% in April. That outpaced the drop in sales so the national market still tightened slightly on average. At 0.54, the national sales-to-listings ratio is still firmly in ’balanced market’ territory.
Most local markets are still in the ‘balanced’ to ‘tight’ range from a sales-to-listing ratio perspective despite widespread sales declines.
Year-over-year growth in the national benchmark price decelerated to just 1.5% in April — the lowest since October 2009 and a dramatic shift from a year ago when annual price growth was 18.9%. If recent month-over-month growth trends are maintained, though, it is probably close to its low and could start to drift slightly higher over the summer. April last year marked the peak in year-over-year price growth ahead of new foreign buyer tax implemented in Ontario.
Link to the full report
To view, print and download the new report, click on the following link:
http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/canadian-housing/housespecial-may18.pdf
Highlights of the report:
Existing home sales slipped 2.9% lower in April, building on a 0.2% dip in March. Declines over the last two months were still much more modest than the 19% plunge over January and February as new required mortgage stress tests took a toll on sales.
We continue to expect most of the adjustment to the new stress tests is behind us. The persistence of soft resale data also, though, adds to the evidence that the cooling impact on housing activity could be longer-lived than prior regulatory moves.
The largest drop in sales in April was in Ontario (-5.3%) although declines were posted in most regions. Only Saskatchewan (+8.7%), New Brunswick (+4.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+14.7%) posted sales increases in April.
New listings fell by 4.8% in April. That outpaced the drop in sales so the national market still tightened slightly on average. At 0.54, the national sales-to-listings ratio is still firmly in ’balanced market’ territory.
Most local markets are still in the ‘balanced’ to ‘tight’ range from a sales-to-listing ratio perspective despite widespread sales declines.
Year-over-year growth in the national benchmark price decelerated to just 1.5% in April — the lowest since October 2009 and a dramatic shift from a year ago when annual price growth was 18.9%. If recent month-over-month growth trends are maintained, though, it is probably close to its low and could start to drift slightly higher over the summer. April last year marked the peak in year-over-year price growth ahead of new foreign buyer tax implemented in Ontario.
Link to the full report
To view, print and download the new report, click on the following link:
http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/canadian-housing/housespecial-may18.pdf