Housing market heats up before rule change
Financial Post
OTTAWA — Canadian home resales rose 4.5% in January to the highest level since April 2010, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday.
The gains during the month were led by Vancouver and Toronto, CREA said.
“National sales activity has improved steadily since last summer, and now stands almost 25% above the low point reached in July 2010,” the industry body said.
Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist, said “we anticipated the recent announcement of tighter mortgage regulations, which will come into effect this March, would pull forward sales activity into the first quarter of 2011, particularly in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets.”
“The sharp rise in sales activity in Toronto following the announcement provides early evidence confirming this,” he said
The Schacter Team - Langley Real Estate