House prices in the Calgary and Edmonton regions continue to fall.
Data released on Thursday by the Canadian Real Estate Association shows benchmark house prices for the two Alberta cities declined in July.
The benchmark price of $416,100 in Calgary was down 0.05 per cent from the previous month and off by 3.53 per cent from a year ago. In Edmonton, the benchmark price of $319,200 dropped by 0.06 per cent month over month and by 3.30 per cent year over year.
Nationally, CREA said the aggregate composite MLS price of $620,900 was up 0.57 per cent in July, the largest increase in over two years. On an annual basis, prices across Canada are up 0.22 per cent.
The association said home sales recorded via Canadian MLS systems rose for the fifth consecutive month in July, putting them about 15 per cent above the six-year low reached in February but still more than 10 per cent below the highs reached in 2016 and 2017.
Sales activity stood 12.6 per cent above July 2018. Sales were up from year-ago levels in most of Canada’s largest markets, including the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Calgary, Edmonton, the greater Toronto area and Hamilton-Burlington, Ottawa and Montreal, it said.
“The extent to which recent declines in mortgage interest rates have helped lift sales activity varies by community and price segment,” said CREA president Jason Stephen.
“Sales are starting to rebound in places where they dropped when the mortgage stress test took effect at the beginning of 2018, but activity there remains well below levels recorded prior to its introduction,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist.
“By the same token, sales continue to rise in housing markets where the mortgage stress test had little impact due to upbeat local economic conditions and a supply of affordably priced homes. Meanwhile, the mortgage stress test is doing no favours for homebuyers and sellers alike in places facing challenging local economic prospects and subdued consumer sentiment.”
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