Housing starts suffer mild setback

Globe and Mail Update
July home sales set record

Karim Bardeesy

Friday, August 14, 2009

Canadians are still in the housing market, as more homes were sold last month than any previous July on record.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said Friday that 50,270 homes traded hands on the Multiple Listing Service in July. That's 18.2 per cent more than in July, 2008.

The Vancouver market showed considerable strength, with a 90-per-cent increase in the number of resales. Other cities saw smaller increases, with Edmonton and Toronto up 28 per cent, Calgary up 22 per cent, and Montreal up 19 per cent.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, resales are only 1.4 per cent below the peak reached in May, 2007.

The average price rose by 7.6 per cent to $362,800 over 12 months.

Source: © The Globe and Mail