Surge in new listings leads to more balanced housing market

[Joe Crawford]

Despite some frigid weather and active storms across many areas of
Canada, the resale housing market kept on moving forward in January.
Even at a time when it was difficult to get buyers to venture out to
look at properties, the number of transactions for resale homes still
edged higher at the opening of the year. According to The Canadian
Real Estate Association (CREA), seasonally adjusted MLS(R) sales
activity edged up 0.6% from December levels to 41,215 units in January
2008. This small increase reflects higher activity in Saskatchewan,
Alberta, Manitoba, and Newfoundland & Labrador.

However, the big news in January was in the number of new listings
coming onto the market. More and more Canadian homeowners are looking
to take advantage of record home prices to cash in on the equity in
their home and move on to greener pastures. National MLS(R) residential
new listings surged 10.7% to a new record of 74,943 homes listed for
sale in January 2008, says CREA. As a result, the national MLS(R)
resale housing market was more balanced than at any other point in the
past seven years.

Seasonally adjusted new residential listings reached new heights in
British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, and posted double-digit gains in
Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Record level activity in
Saskatchewan made it the tightest resale housing market in Canada in
January 2008. The market also tightened in Manitoba and in
Newfoundland & Labrador compared to the previous month, while becoming
more balanced in all other provinces.
A more balanced market saw smaller price increases on a national
basis, and in Ontario and Alberta. CREA reports that the national
MLS(R) residential average price rose 9.6% year-over-year to $309,448 in
January 2008. This is the smallest year-over-year price increase since
April last year. However, there were still some standouts. The MLS(R)
average price in Saskatchewan climbed almost 50% year-over-year in
January 2008 - the largest increase ever. New Brunswick and PEI also
climbed to their highest level on record, while BC and Newfoundland &
Labrador saw near record gains.

And where does your community fit into this national picture? That's
where your local Coldwell Banker (R) sales professional comes in! They
have their finger on the pulse of your local market conditions, and
have a wealth of information to share with you. Everything you'd like
to know about recent sales, house prices, listings inventory and much
more is just a phone call away. So, don't wait. Call soon and let's
talk. There's no obligation to you, and it could just end up being
the best call you'll ever make!