The Canadian Real Estate Association raised its forecast for home sales this year, helped by economic fundamentals and falling mortgage rates.
The organization says national home sales are now projected to rise to 482,000 units this year, up five per cent from 2018. In June, CREA predicted sales to climb 1.2 per cent to 463,000 this year.
The improved outlook for the year came as CREA reported home sales in August were up five per cent compared with the same month last year.
Home sales were up in most of the country’s largest markets, including B.C.’s Lower Mainland, Calgary, Winnipeg, the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa and Montreal.
In Greater Victoria, 661 properties sold in August, an increase of 11 percent over August 2018, but a drop of 6 percent from July.
The actual national average price for a home sold in August was about $493,500, up almost four per cent from the same month last year.
Excluding the Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver regions, the national average price was less than $393,000, while the year-over-year gain was 2.7 per cent.
With files from Canadian Pres
CHEK News
