October 14, 2009
3rd Quarter Housing Results Reflect Recovery
Did you know that the most recent Royal LePage House Price Survey (Oct. 8th) concluded that Canada’s housing market is on the road to recovery? The survey reported a pronounced undersupply of homes for sale in southern Ontario and other regions of the country. With the recession retreating, the report found that home prices are stabilizing and unit sales are increasingly driven by improved affordability.
“The 2009 real estate market has seen sales activity lagging approximately one month behind the typical seasonal patterns,” said Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “The economic recession halted the flow of the real estate cycle from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the first quarter of 2009, but it is essentially now back on track albeit delayed. Once housing supply returns to normal levels, we believe the economy will support modest pricing growth into 2010.”
Improved affordability is the biggest driver of current real estate activity levels, Soper added. “With the widespread availability of affordable mortgage financing, and only modest increases in home prices, affordability is better now than it has been in a number of years. We expect house prices and interest rates to remain relatively stable into next spring which would keep affordability levels intact.”
