Housing Market Continues to Defy Logic, Re/Max Says
Even one of Canada's leading real estate companies agrees the rising housing market may not appear to make much sense.
But appearances are deceiving and Re/Max says both sales and average prices will continue to climb in 2012.
"Canadian residential real estate defied conventional logic and outperformed expectations in 2011," the company said in its year-end report on the market.
Re/Max expects 2011 to finish with prices up seven per cent and the aver-age home across the country selling for $363,000. The market won't be as robust in 2012 but consumers can still expect another two-per-cent jump in prices, it added.
Sales for 2011 are forecast to climb by three per cent from a year earlier with 460,000 homes having changed hands by year end. For 2012, expect less than a one-per-cent increase in activity with only an additional 4,500 sales.
"The Canadian housing market has demonstrated tremendous resilience in recent years but 2011 stands out," said Michael Polzler, executive vice-president of Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic logos Canada.
Re/Max looked at 26 markets across the country and predicts 23 will show an increase in average price for this year. Sales were up in 22 of those 26 markets. The company says 81 per use cent of markets studied will see price increases in 2012.
Among the reasons cited for the Canadian housing market's continued strength against the odds has been population growth which has gone up by 11 per cent since 2000.
Nickolas Vidovic
Prudential Sussex Realty
"Making Your Future Investment Happen"
Posted on Dec 07, 2011
