Grant Surridge, Financial Post
Sales of existing homes in Canada’s major cities reversed two months of declines in October, clocking in with the largest ever figure for that month, according to a national real estate agents‘ association.
Seasonally adjusted national sales rebounded to 28,966 units in October, climbing 1.3% from the level in September, said the Canadian Real Estate Association on Thursday.
“The thing that surprised me most was the fact the rebound occurred in markets across the country,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association.
“It just shows the strength of resale housing markets across Canada.”
The average resale price rose 10.6% year-over-year to $333,544, the sixth consecutive month that number climbed over 10%. Average prices hit record levels in Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto and Montreal.
Mr. Klump contrasted the continued positive news emitting from the Canadian housing market with the doom and gloom from south of the border.
“We continue to see sellers’ markets, not buyers’ markets like in the States.”
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Posted in Ajax Real Estate, Buying Real Estate, Pickering Real Estate, Scarborough Real Estate, Selling Real Estate | No Comments »
Saskatoon, Regina prices up 50%
CBC News
Canada’s real estate scene is showing no sign of the weakness sweeping through the U.S. market, as sales and prices continue to rise.
The average resale price in 24 major markets jumped $5,000 from September to October, to $333,544, according to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
That’s a rise of 10.6% from last October — the sixth month in a row of double-digit year-over-year price gains.
The country’s priciest real estate continued to be found in Vancouver, where the average resale price jumped $8,000 from September to reach $590,577 in October — up 7.8% from a year earlier.
Alberta’s cities used to post the biggest percentage price gains. But recently, it’s been Saskatchewan that’s been doing the booming.
Saskatoon’s average resale home sold for $255,614 in October — up a whopping 53.3% from October 2006. Regina’s increase was just behind — up 50.3% to $190,657.
Average resale prices hit record highs in the two Saskatchewan cities, as well as in Montreal and Toronto.
Toronto’s average price jumped $14,000 in a month to $394,583. A similar price rise took place in the Hamilton-Burlington, Ont. region.
Prices in every market except Windsor were up over last year. Windsor’s real estate market remains weak, with prices down four per cent year-over-year.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales rose 1.3% from September’s level, with more than half the markets reporting an increase in activity.
“Negotiations still favour the seller in nearly all major markets,” the Canadian Real Estate Association’s chief economist Gregory Klump said in a release. “This suggests resale housing demand remains on a strong footing, and that price increases will continue to exceed overall consumer price inflation.”
The Canadian Real Estate Association forecasts that average prices in 2008 will set new records in every province, despite a slowdown in sales activity.
The Canadian Real Estate Association’s figures are based on sales through the Multiple Listing Service system.
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How to keep your garden healthy and vigorous
Tending a garden can be one of the simple joys of home ownership. If you’re planning on planting your first backyard crops this summer, taking the time to learn a little more about your soil could help you reap a more fruitful harvest.
To help you get the most out of your garden this season, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) offers the following tips for keeping your soil in top shape:
• Many of the most common soil problems are related to texture. The texture of a soil is determined by its relative proportion of sand, silt and clay. In general, clay soils tend to be fertile but are often wet and poorly drained. Sandy soils drain easily but can be drought-prone and infertile. Loam, probably the most desirable soil texture, retains moisture and is fertile, crumbly and easy to work with.
• To determine your soil’s texture, dry and crush a small amount by rubbing it in the palm of your hand. Then rub a pinch of the soil between your thumb and fingers. The grainier the soil feels, the higher its sand content is likely to be.
• To test for clay, squeeze some moist soil in your hand and then pass it from hand to hand. The more it holds together, the higher the percentage of clay.
• Other important qualities of good soil include its structure and porosity, moisture, fertility, pH level and the presence of earthworms, ants and other life forms that can contribute to the health of your plants. To find out more about these and other characteristics of your soil, contact your local garden centre, soil testing laboratory, or provincial agriculture ministry or department.
• Once you are armed with a basic understanding of your soil’s properties, you can select plants that will be better suited to thrive in your garden and site conditions such as sun, shade and anticipated rainfall. Local nurseries, conservation agencies, plant catalogues, books and websites can all help you identify which plants can tolerate a variety of soil textures and which are likely to have more specific soil requirements.
• Although picking the right plants for your soil will minimize the need to add fertilizers or other amendments, there may still be some situations in which these additions will be unavoidable. If your garden has a high clay content, for example, you will probably need to aerate the soil and work in some organic matter such as well-rotted manure, compost, grass clippings or leaves.
• When your soil is in a healthy state, consider installing a rain garden to help maintain your plants. A rain garden is an attractive, easy and inexpensive way to reduce runoff and allow stormwater to soak more slowly into the ground.
For more information or a free copy of the “About Your House” fact sheet entitled Get to Know Your Soil or other fact sheets on owning, maintaining or renovating your home, call CMHC at 1-800-668-2642 or visit our website at www.cmhc.ca. For more than 60 years, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been Canada’s national housing agency, and a source of objective, reliable housing expertise.
New Homes & Condos Magazine is an excellent source of housing information for those looking for information on new homes in Ontario, Canada. We offer the most up-to-date information on new communities across the Greater Toronto Area.
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