REAL ESTATE: Interest rates should stay low
Province
OTTAWA — The market for resale homes will end 2005 with an expansion of five per cent over 2004 with a record 484,025 properties sold, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Friday.
It’s the fifth straight year of record national activity in the Multiple Listing Service, the realtors’ group said, adding that regional markets have reached new peaks in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.
National MLS homes sales hit 126,890 in the July-September period, the highest seasonally adjusted quarterly level on record.
And the average resale home price for 2005 is projected at $256,200, up 13.2 per cent from 2004, in the biggest annual percentage increase since 1989.
“Transactions are still running exceptionally high, but small interest-rate increases are beginning to bring sales activity back to earth in a number of major markets,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist of the 82,000-member association.
“Sales activity is forecast to gradually trend lower as interest rates creep higher next year.” Still, 2006 sales volumes are forecast to be the third-highest ever with average prices increasing a further five per cent.
“Price gains will be more modest in 2006 as the market becomes more balanced,” Klump said.
“Mortgage interest rates are expected to remain within one per cent of current levels in 2006, so many homebuyers will still be able to finance more expensive home purchases.”
© The Vancouver Province 2005
