Canada Housing Market Slows in May as Toronto Sales Cool

Canadian realtors recorded slowing sales growth last month, regional data suggest, led by a cooling market in Toronto.

The value of purchases at seven major regional real estate boards that have reported figures for May rose 4.9 percent from a year earlier to C$11.2 billion ($10.8 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Those markets had an 8.5 percent annual increase in value during the prior month.

British Columbia led realtor declines in May, with unit home sales in Vancouver falling 16 percent from a year earlier.

The number of homes sold in Toronto rose 11 percent, down from an increase of 18 percent in April. The average sales price in Canada’s biggest city rose 6.5 percent, from a gain of 8.5 percent in April.

The Canadian Real Estate Association publishes aggregated national data in the middle of every month. In April, the value of transactions in all major Canadian markets rose 12.5 percent from a year earlier, with an 11.5 percent increase in unit sales. The association also publishes seasonally adjusted data that showed the value of transactions rose by 1.1 percent in April.

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                                  May         May       May
                     Weight       2012        2011     -YoY-
============================================================
---------------------------Number of Units Sold-------------
Total                 43.7%     22,219      20,746      7.1%
------------------------------------------------------------
Vancouver              7.0%      2,853       3,377    -15.5%
Fraser Valley          3.2%      1,616       1,608      0.5%
Victoria               1.3%        636         544     16.9%
Calgary                5.0%      2,385       1,810     31.8%
Edmonton               4.0%      1,983       1,982      0.1%
Toronto               20.0%     10,850       9,766     11.1%
Ottawa                 3.2%      1,896       1,659     14.3%
----------------Average Sales Price (Canadian Dollars)------
                                   May         May       May
                     Weight       2012        2011     -YoY-
=============================================================
Total                         $506,146    $516,842     -2.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------
Vancouver              7.0%   $730,386    $832,290    -12.2%
Fraser Valley          3.2%   $490,505    $537,413     -8.7%
Victoria               1.3%   $506,194    $525,448     -3.7%
Calgary                5.0%   $445,334    $433,069      2.8%
Edmonton               4.0%   $348,196    $330,262      5.4%
Toronto               20.0%   $516,787    $485,362      6.5%
Ottawa                 3.2%   $362,837    $351,586      3.2%
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total Sales (C$ Bln.) 43.7%    $11,246     $10,722      4.9%
=============================================================
All figures are non-seasonally adjusted.
N/A means results not yet reported.
SOURCE: Canadian Real Estate Boards
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All figures are non-seasonally adjusted.
SOURCE: Canadian Real Estate Boards

To contact the reporters on this story: Ilan Kolet in Ottawa at ikolet@bloomberg.net; Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net; Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net