According to recent statistics just released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the resale housing market has just notched up another record. The first quarter of 2007 was the highest quarter on record for homes sold via the MLS®. Resale home sales in Canada 's major markets exceeded 90,000, the first time ever in a single quarter. Despite earlier predictions that the national market would begin to moderate and some challenging weather conditions in many parts of the country during the first quarter, the market continues to exceed expectations.

The unexpectedly strong performance in this year's opening quarter represented a 6.4% increase over the last quarter of 2006. Not surprisingly, Western markets continued to lead the way with new records for seasonally adjusted quarterly sales activity being set in several major markets, including Calgary , Edmonton , Regina , and Saskatoon . A total of 29,912 homes traded hands via MLS® on a seasonally adjusted basis in March alone.

While new residential listings on the MLS® increased fractionally in the first quarter (141,727 seasonally adjusted units in the first quarter – up just 0.2% from 141,409 units in the final quarter of 2006), the increased sales activity exceeded the new listings coming on the market. The result was a tightening of the MLS® housing market, particularly in the West, where it remains a seller's market. The average price for MLS ® residential home sales climbed to a new monthly record in March at $316,572, a 9.5% year-over-year gain over the same period last year. New records were set for average resale home price in a number of major markets in March, including Vancouver , Calgary , Edmonton , Saskatoon , London , and Ottawa .

For information on home sales, inventory of listings and average prices in your market, contact your local Coldwell Banker sales professional.

(Unadjusted Data)

March
2007

February
2007

% change

March
2007

March
2006

% change

Dollar Volume ($ millions)

9,448.9

9,433.3

0.2

11,451.0

10,179.0

12.5

Unit Sales

29,912

29,934

-0.1

36,172

35,195

2.8

Average Price ($)

316,572

289,217

9.5

New Listings

47,541

46,347

2.6

56,960

57,034

-0.1

MLS® Major Market Residential Summary:
First Quarter 2007

(Seasonally Adjusted Data)

(Unadjusted Data)

First Quarter 2007

Fourth Quarter 2006

% change

First Quarter 2007

First Quarter 2006

% change

Dollar Volume ($ millions)

28,283.8

25,622.3

10.4

26,926.1

23,197.5

16.1

Unit Sales

90,113

84,726

6.4

86,728

82,171

5.5

Average Price ($)

310,466

282,308

10.0

New Listings

141,727

141,409

0.2

150,510

146,748

2.6

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.