Mario Toneguzzi
Sun
CALGARY — Home sales in Canada’s major markets reached the highest level for any quarter on record in the first quarter of 2007, with sales activity hitting records in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon, according to a report Monday.
“Pushed higher by Western markets, it was also the first time total major market activity surpassed 90,000 home sales in a single quarter,” said the report by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Ann Bosley, president of the association, said that unlike the United States, “Canadian consumers remain upbeat about buying a home right across the country.”
“Strong job markets, low interest rates and high consumer confidence levels continue to underpin Canadian resale housing activity,” she said.
Richard Corriveau, regional economist for the Prairies and Territories for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in Calgary, said based on the first three months of this year it appears sales records will occur in each of the three Prairie provinces in 2007.
“Data to date we’ve seen that Saskatchewan is actually enjoying the strongest gain and that’s largely due to migration and employment there,” said Corriveau. “In Saskatchewan actually, I think they’re recording a 35-per-cent increase in sales to the end of February. Now during the same period, sales in Alberta are up 12 per cent and it appears that buyers have yet to resist the recent price escalation.”
Corriveau said CMHC is in the process of revising its forecast for average prices in Alberta this year to about a 20-per-cent increase in 2007 from the previous year.
A number of factors are driving the housing market in the Western region including some of the strongest growth in population in Canada thanks to a healthy economy.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007