RBC Economics says home affordability recorded some of the biggest quarterly improvements on record in the first quarter. Senior economist Robert Hogue says with market turmoil decreasing and credit flows increasing, resale activity has “rallied impressively.”

He says what is most impressive is how widespread this rebound has been, “with all major cities in Canada experiencing a revival.”

Declining costs of home ownership during the last year were driven by significant cuts in mortgage rates.

In the first quarter, says RBC, monthly payments on a typical detached bungalow fell by close to 17 per cent from a year earlier.

RBC says the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to own a home improved across all housing segments.

It says the benchmark detached bungalow moved to 39.4 per cent, the standard townhouse to 31.9 per cent, the standard condo to 27.1 per cent and the standard two-storey home to 44.7 per cent respectively.

RBC’s affordability measure for detached bungalows in the largest cities were 62.6 per cent in Vancouver, 45.9 per cent in Toronto, 39.1 per cent in Ottawa, 36.5 per cent in Montreal and 35.1 pr cent in Calgary.

“Housing markets generally appear to be on the mend in Canada but the road to full recovery still has obstacles,” added Hogue.

He added that further improvement in affordability will depend on greater gains in family income.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iE0WgUzhh7xwb3MGbU8RjqZkWe_A

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“Declining costs of home ownership during the last year were driven by significant cuts in mortgage rates along with the federal government taking an active role in supporting the mortgage securities market,” RBC said. “In the first quarter, monthly payments on a typical detached bungalow in Canada had decreased by close to 17 per cent from a year earlier.”

The average cost to own a bungalow in this year’s first quarter was $1,350 a month, down from $1,520 in 2008’s fourth quarter and $1,620 in last year’s first quarter.

RBC’s affordability index — the percentage of pre-tax monthly household income needed to maintain a home, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes — improved across all housing segments in Canada.

The average affordability for a bungalow in the first quarter was 39.4 per cent, down four points from 2008’s fourth quarter. It was 44.7 per cent for a standard two-storey (down five points), and 27.1 per cent for a condominium (down 2.8 points).

The average cost of maintaining a detached bungalow in Vancouver was 62.6 per cent of household income during the first quarter, while in Toronto it was 45.9 per cent, RBC said. Ottawa affordability was 39.1 per cent, Montreal 36.5 per cent, Calgary 35.1 per cent, and Edmonton 34 per cent.

From a provincial standpoint, RBC said housing affordability in British Columbia saw its biggest improvements since 1991, with the percentage of income required for various housing types dropping between 3.4 and 7.4 percentage points during the quarter. In Ontario, RBC said housing sales activity has returned to levels seen in mid-2008, largely as a result of improved affordability.

“With the turmoil in financial markets partially subsiding and the flow of credit increasing, home resale activity has rallied impressively since the late winter,” said Robert Hogue, RBC’s senior economist. “What’s most impressive is how widespread this rebound has been, with all major cities in Canada experiencing a revival.

“”With property values stabilizing and the effect of the steep drop in mortgage rates likely behind us, further improvement in affordability will depend on greater gains in family income,” Hogue added. “Those gains will be dictated by the speed of the economic recovery expected during the second half of this year.”

The RBC’s assessment follows a separate report this week from real estate agency Royal LePage that said improved housing-market conditions in this year’s second quarter points to a better overall performance in 2009 than previously anticipated.

Also, a number of local markets saw sharp spikes in sales last month, including Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton, where new sales records were set for June.

Percentage of gross income required to own a standard bungalow in first quarter of 2009 (change from previous quarter):

British Columbia 59.0 (-6.0)

Alberta 33.2 (-4.6)

Saskatchewan 42.0 (-3.3)

Manitoba 35.3 (-2.9)

Ontario 38.6 (-4.2)

Quebec 32.3 (-2.5)

Atlantic 31.3 (-2.9)

Canada 39.4 (-4.0)

Source: RBC Economics

http://www.canada.com/Business/Home+ownership+getting+more+affordable/1771375/story.html

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The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that sales of detached, attached and apartment properties increased 75.6 per cent in June 2009 to 4,259, from the 2,425 sales recorded in June 2008. The figure is just short of the record-breaking 4,333 sales which occurred in June 2005.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 17.9 per cent to 5,372 in June 2009 compared to June 2008, when 6,546 new units were listed. However, new listings increased 13.5 per cent from May to June of this year. Total active listings in Greater Vancouver currently sit at 13,252, down 27 per cent from June 2008 and 2.9 per cent below the active listings count at the end of May 2009.

“Price reductions and low interest rates have created an improvement in affordability, which is causing the number of sales to rise to levels comparable to 2003 to 2007,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“Many people who were reluctant to purchase a home last fall and earlier this year are returning to the market because they see conditions that appeal to their personal and financial needs,” Russell said. “However, the current marketplace is such that buyers are more inclined to walk if they don’t like the terms of an offer.”

Residential benchmark prices, as calculated by the MLSLink® Housing Price Index, declined 8.2 per cent to $518,855 in June 2009 compared to June 2008.

The number of sales of detached properties increased 81.6 per cent to 1,667 from the 918 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties declined 8.4 per cent to $701,384 in June 2009 compared to June 2008.

The number of sales of apartment properties in June 2009 increased 69.3 per cent to 1,790, compared to 1,057 sales in June 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 8.2 per cent from June 2008 to $356,880.

The number of attached property sales in June 2009 increased 78.2 per cent to 802, compared with the 450 sales in June 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 7.3 per cent between June 2009 and 2008 to $441,620.

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in June 2009 compared to June 2008:

Detached:

Burnaby up 109.7 per cent (151 units sold from 72)

Coquitlam up 122.2 per cent (160 units sold from 72)

Delta – South up 107.7 per cent (56 units sold from 27)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 54.3 per cent (162 units sold from 105)

New Westminster up 104.8 per cent (43 units sold from 21)

North Vancouver up 96.2 per cent (153 units sold from 78)

Port Moody/ Belcarra up 120 per cent (33 units sold from 15)

Richmond up 77.4 per cent (204 units sold from 115)

Squamish up 107.7 per cent (27 units sold from 13)

Sunshine Coast up 33.9 per cent (75 units sold from 56)

Vancouver East up 71.2 per cent (238 units sold from 139)

Vancouver West up 85.2 per cent (200 units sold from 108)

West Vancouver/Howe Sound up 117.8 per cent (98 units sold from 45)

Attached:

Burnaby up 81.8 per cent (140 units sold from 77)

Coquitlam up 80 per cent (54 units sold from 30)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 48.6 per cent (55 units sold from 37)

North Vancouver up 121.2 per cent (73 units sold from 33)

Port Coquitlam up 82.6 per cent (42 units sold from 23)

Port Moody/ Belcarra up 77.3 per cent (39 units sold from 22)

Richmond up 84.5 per cent (155 units sold from 84)

Vancouver East up 118.5 per cent (59 units sold from 27)

Vancouver West up 121.8 per cent (122 units sold from 55)

Apartments:

Burnaby up 60.4 per cent (239 units sold from 149)

Coquitlam up 93.9 per cent (95 units sold from 49)

New Westminster up 57.1 per cent (121 units sold from 77)

North Vancouver up 71.4 per cent (120 units sold from 70)

Port Coquitlam up 58.1 per cent (49 units sold from 31)

Port Moody/Belcarra up 128.6 per cent (48 units sold from 21)

Richmond up 54.1 per cent (225 units sold from 146)

Vancouver East up 58.7 per cent (165 units sold from 104)

Vancouver West up 87.2 per cent (627 units sold from 335)

West Vancouver/Howe Sound up 155.6 per cent (23 units sold from 9)

http://vancouverspaces.com/07/real-estate-board-june/

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“Total urban starts for the month of May were down from last year’s monthly level due to an overall decrease in both single and multiple starts in provincial urban centres,” said Claude Gautreau, CMHC’s senior market analyst for New Brunswick. Single starts in provincial urban centres were down 38 per cent to 138 units in May. Year-to-date, single starts were down by 39 per cent to 292 units.

Meanwhile, in New Brunswick’s urban centres, a total of 196 multiple starts were recorded in May of 2009, down from 258 units during the same month last year. The year-to-date decline in multiple starts was moderate at 6.7 per cent at the end of May. “Increased activity in both Saint John and Fredericton through the first five months of 2009 has bolstered overall multiple starts in provincial urban centres,” continued Gautreau.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts in May declined by 46 per cent, down to 10,368 compared to last year’s total of 19,222. Single-detached starts decreased 42 per cent to 4,939 units, while multiple unit starts were down 49 per cent from 10,654 units last year to 5,429 units this year. In the Atlantic region, 760 new units were started in May 2009 compared to 1,094 units during the same period in 2008.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes – homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

—————————————-
(1) Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
sampling results.

————————————————————————-
PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS
NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY
————————————————————————-
2009 2008 YEAR-TO-DATE
———— % Change ————– % Change
MAY MAY 2009 2008
————————————————————————-
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS GREATER THAN 50,000
————————————————————————-
SAINT JOHN CMA
Single 40 57 -29.8% 103 164 -37.2%
Multiple 60 20 (XX) 192 138 39.1%
TOTAL 100 77 29.9% 295 302 -2.3%
————————————————————————-
MONCTON CMA
Single 44 96 -54.2% 76 155 -51.0%
Multiple 114 165 -30.9% 170 248 -31.5%
TOTAL 158 261 -39.5% 246 403 -39.0%
————————————————————————-
FREDERICTON CA
Single 29 47 -38.3% 70 117 -40.2%
Multiple 22 66 -66.7% 95 72 31.9%
TOTAL 51 113 -54.9% 165 189 -12.7%
————————————————————————-
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION GREATER THAN 10,000(*)
————————————————————————-
ALL CENTRES
Single 138 223 -38.1% 292 477 -38.8%
Multiple 196 258 -24.0% 457 490 -6.7%
TOTAL 334 481 -30.6% 749 967 -22.5%
————————————————————————-
Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
sampling results.

(*) Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000
(Saint John CMA, Moncton CA, Fredericton CA, Bathurst CA,
Campbellton CA, Edmundston CA, and Miramichi City).

(XX) Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to
volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.

http://www.dailycommercialnews.com/nw/12359/re

Report provided to the blog by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Updated Wed. Apr. 8 2009 6:40 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A recession-cooled Canadian real estate market saw falling housing prices during the first quarter of the year, though the declines were not as steep as expected.

A quarterly house price survey, released Wednesday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services, showed national price declines in several major housing types compared to the same quarter in 2008.

According to the survey numbers:

* The price of a standard two-storey home dropped 6.5 per cent
* The price of a detached bungalow fell 6.1 per cent
* The price of a standard condominium declined by 4 per cent

Royal LePage Real Estate Services President Phil Soper said the data shows the hottest housing market to be in St. John’s, where prices for standard two-storey homes rose 15 per cent year over year.

“Consumer confidence drives a lot of activity in the housing market and they remain a very confident lot, and there’s still a supply shortage of homes for sale there,” he told CTV’s Canada AM.

Soper said other markets in Atlantic Canada also performed steadily, due in part to the region’s affordable housing prices and to an increasingly diverse regional economy.

“Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, N.B., are all healthy markets,” he said.

“The economies have really diversified over the last 15 years and it’s showing up in terms of steadier prices.”

In Ontario and Quebec, Royal LePage said the markets “held steady” with some small gains and declines. But overall, Ontario typically saw “mid to low single digit declines” in its housing prices, the survey said.

The survey said that Western provinces saw “significant changes” in real estate prices, with double-digit declines in many areas. Manitoba was the lone major exception to this trend.

The survey predicted that B.C. and Alberta may be among the first areas in Canada to see pricing gains because those provinces experienced market corrections prior to the brunt of the economic crisis.

Soper said the first quarter of 2009 was, overall, one of the worst-performing sales periods for real estate in recent memory.

But he said Canadian realtors have high hopes for an improvement in the national market this spring.

“There is a remarkable uptick in March in buying activity in the marketplace, compared to November, December, January, February, (which) were easily the worst four months in the last decade in terms of housing market activity,” he said.

Out west, the declines were particularly severe, Soper said.

“In Vancouver, the activity level in the province was down by half,” Soper said.

“Fifty per cent of the transactions just disappeared over those four months. So, now we’re only down 25 per cent in March, that’s a remarkable turnaround in one month.”

The survey also said that condominiums have become “increasingly accessible” for young homeowners across Canada, due to a combination of low lending rates and falling prices during the recession.

In the first quarter of 2009, the average price of a standard Canadian condominium was $232, 877 — a mid-point price on a scale that ranged from $120,000 in Charlottetown to $431,500 in Vancouver.

http://www.johnhutton.ca/?p=84

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“The majority of the decline in home prices has already occurred,” said association chief economist Cameron Muir, in a report released on Tuesday.

“Balanced markets are emerging in Victoria, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There’s now little downward pressure on home prices in these areas,” said Muir.

As a result, the real estate association has revised its forecast for the year, predicting the average listed price for a residential property in B.C. will decline eight per cent to $420,600 in 2009, instead of 13 per cent as originally forecasted at the beginning of the year.

Prices have stabilized because of increased demand, with seasonally adjusted home sales raising over the past three months, according to Muir.

“First-time buyers were largely absent in the late fall and winter, making it more difficult for move-up buyers to sell their current homes. The chain of ownership is now being oiled,” he said.

Lower home prices and record low interest rates have reduced the carrying cost of the average priced home 24 per cent over the last year, according to Muir.

“A significant increase in affordability has brought many first-time buyers into the market,” he said.

Muir expects stronger consumer demand to continue for the balance of the year and residential sales in 2010 to climb 10 per cent.
Moishe Alexander’s report.

http://www.victoriarealestate.ca/falling-prices-in-bcs-real-estate-market-are-levelling-off

http://livinginvictoriabc.blogspot.com/2009/06/karie-siess-says-rates-are-going-up.html