Canada's real estate market means business
The Canadian real estate market has seen its share of ups and downs.
As the market continues to fluctuate, there are some provinces performing better than others in terms of real estate sales.
RELATED TOPIC: Where’s the housing boom in Canada?
With healthy home-buying in mind, here is a brief look at Canada's real estate market:
Canadian real estate statistics
In order to gain a better understanding of the real estate market in Canada, it's important to take a look at the national statistics.
According to The Canadian Real Estate Association, yearly home sales across Canada have increased from 435,000 sales in 2011 to just more than 540,000 sales in 2015.
Additionally, new residential listings are also on the increase. In 2011, there were 860,000 new real estate listings in Canada compared to 2015 with nearly 920,000 new listings. Likewise, the average national sales price across all Canadian provinces is up by 8.1% over last year's average.
Although Canada's real estate market is on a steady upswing, not all provinces are experiencing the same sales.
Sales by province
As the following article looks at, from the floor plan to the square footage to the luxury designer wallpaper, there's a lot that goes into choosing a new home, including location. Sometimes it isn’t necessarily what is inside the house as far as design and amenities, but where in fact the house sits. With that said, a number of Canadian provinces are experiencing increased sales while others are experiencing steady decreases.
For example, sales in British Columbia are up by 4.9%, which is the largest annual sales increase in the country. Nova Scotia is a close second with a 3.7% increase, followed by New Brunswick and Quebec with 2.5% increases and Ontario with a 1.9% increase.
On the other side of the sales spectrum are those provinces that aren't performing as well.
RELATED TOPIC: Canadian housing market forecast
Manitoba for example has experienced a 2.2% decrease in annual sales and Saskatchewan is worse yet with an 11.2% decrease. However, Alberta is the hardest hit with a 19.2% annual decrease in real estate sales.
Residential real estate prices by province
Real estate pricing is a great way to tell which provinces in Canada are booming. The top three provinces for real estate prices are British Columbia, Ontario, and the Yukon.
The average price for a new home in British Columbia is $630,000, which is up $100,000 over last year. Average new home prices in Ontario are in the $480,000 range, which is up $40,000 over last year. Finally, new homes in the Yukon cost around $330,000, which is up $15,000 over last year's prices.
Future real estate trends
Based on current trends and data, the real estate market in Canada is projected to deliver modest growth over the next year. This is thanks not only to the continued success of residential real estate sales, but low-risk urbanization as well.
With an influx of Canadians moving to major cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, developers are concentrating on urbanized real estate.
This includes converting existing commercial structures for residential purposes as well as constructing mixed-space real estate in busy downtown areas.
Although fluctuations are common, it's plain to see that Canada's real estate market truly means business.
RECENT TOPIC: Air Canada and WestJet set an all-time single day passenger record on July 31
About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including commercial and residential real estate.
Let's Connect!
Read the latest edition of Business Review Canada!
