CollingwoodAreaRealEstate: post

Canadian home sales edge back in February

Ottawa, ON, March 15, 2013 - According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity edged back down on a month-over-month basis in February 2013 following an increase in January.

Highlights:

• National home sales declined 2.1% from January to February.

• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 15.8% below levels in February 2012.

• The number of newly listed homes fell 1.2% from January to February.

• The Canadian housing market remains firmly in balanced territory.

• The national average sale price was down 1% on a year-over-year basis in February.

• The MLS® HPI rose 2.7% in February, the smallest gain since March 2011.

The number of home sales processed through the MLS® Systems of real estate Boards and Associations and other cooperative listing systems in Canada fell 2.1 per cent on a month-over-month basis in February 2013. The decline reversed the small gain recorded in January, leaving sales slightly below levels seen in recent months. National activity has generally held steady near current levels since it initially geared down in August in the wake of tighter mortgage lending rules and guidelines.

CREA Updates Resale Housing Forecast

Ottawa, ON, March 15, 2013 - The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has updated its forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations in 2013 and extended the outlook to include 2014.

National sales activity has held fairly stable after gearing down last August in the wake of changes to mortgage lending rules and guidelines. Supply is responding to lower demand, keeping the housing market in balanced territory and resulting in stable average prices. However, national housing market trends continue to mask some increasingly divergent regional trends.

For more information, please contact:

Pierre Leduc
Media Relations / Relations auprés des médias
pleduc@crea.ca

The Canadian Real Estate Association / L'Association canadienne de l'immeuble
200 Catherine Street, 6th Floor / 200, rue Catherine, 6e étage Ottawa, ON K2P 2K9
Tel/Tél:+1 (613) 237-7111 Fax/Téléc:+1 (613) 234-2567

Patricia West

Executive Assistant

Georgian Triangle Association of REALTORS®

pwest@gtREALTORS.ca

www.gtREALTORS.ca

(705) 445-7295 (phone) (705) 445-7253 (fax)