Breaking Tradition: Canada & Ontario Real Estate Up In July 2013

In terms of real estate, especially in Ottawa, traditionally July is a fairly quiet month.  Sun, vacations, camping, beaches and just about everything else distracts home buyers in the Summer months.  But this July, traditions have changed - according to new numbers released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), real estate sales across Canada in July 2013 is up 8.4% when compared to July 2012. CREA's number also revealed that in Ontario sales went up higher than the Canadian average - increasing by 8.6% with prices increasing by 7.4% in July 2013 compared to July 2012.  The full report from Canadian Real Estate Magazine can be found here: http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/news/item/1736-july-sales-and-prices-soar

There are a few factors that may have contributed to this growth - the Bank of Canada increased mortgage interests for the first time in years (http://tinyurl.com/k9gq8be), causing buyers to jump into the market to take advantage of the historically low rates; and the new lending limits set by CMHC has forced fence-sitting buyers to make a purchasing decision (http://tinyurl.com/nbk2ebn).  These 2 factors combined with demographic factors, most notably, Baby Boomers retiring from the work place and looking to buy their retirement home or condo (http://tinyurl.com/b8d9uu8), one thing is for certain, traditional market trends won't be so traditional for much longer.

Thanks for reading.

Taylor Bennett
Sales Representative - Bennett Pros 
www.BennettPros.com
Taylor@bennettpros.com
@OttawaTails