Home Sales Drop in January. Average Prices Increase Slightly.

The Vancouver Sun has reported that the number of homes sold in Canada dropped 5.2% over the reported numbers from January of 2012. News, however, was mixed across the country. About half of markets reported better number than in December 2012, with continued bad news in Vancouver bringing down the national average.

The national average sale number remains impressive, rising a steady two percent to $354,754 from a year ago. Of course, excluding inflation, the price is holding the same, but at least your average investor should be holding their own during this environment.

Cheers, and Happy Investing.

Canadian Home Prices May Soon Peak. Statistics Canada Reveals Healthy Gains in Home Prices.

"Thursday was the Statistics Canada New Housing Price Index, which averages the prices of new homes across the country. It rose 0.4 per cent in May over April, buoyed by the country's highest monthly increase in Regina, at 1.7 per cent. This was followed by 1 per cent in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont., and 0.9 per cent in Toronto and Oshawa, Ont. The notable increase in Regina comes as the cost of land, building materials and labour continues to rise in that city. Meanwhile, developers in the Ontario cities that saw prices rise cited market competition as the driving factor."

"When comparing last May to the same month in 2010, Windsor and Victoria led the cities where prices dropped, with new homes costing an average of 4.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent less than a year ago, respectively. On a year-to-year basis, the national index rose 1.9 per cent, with the largest gains in St. John's (4.7 per cent), Toronto and Oshawa (4.3 per cent each)."

Source: CTV NEWS