According to The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales held steady in July 2013.

Here are the highlights:

•National home sales edged up 0.2% from June to July.
•Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 9.4% above levels in July 2012.
•The number of newly listed homes edged down 0.4% from June to July.
•The Canadian housing market has tightened but remains in balanced territory.
•The national average sale price rose 8.4% on a year-over-year basis in July.
•The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 2.7% year-over-year in July.

It was noted that Toronto and Vancouver are experiencing strong increases in both sales and pricing, which is impacting the stats. Some regions of Canada show a slight dip in activity. However, Canada is demonstrating an enormous amount of stability in its real estate market relative to markets around the globe. We think it demonstrates the prudence of Canadians, and our federal goverment, whose tighter lending restrictions imposed last year have helped cool what was a very hot market.

Click HERE for the CREA website and stats.

~ Steven Fudge, purveyor of canadianrealestatehousingandhome.ca and lead realtor for Toronto’s hip housing brand www.urbaneer.com