Nationwide home sales balanced in March
After several months of above average sales activity across the country, the number of homes purchased in March fell in line with what housing analysts have been expecting.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) announced that home sales stayed balanced last month, as the rate of home purchases ticked up one tenth of a percent compared to February.
The CREA says national home sales increased a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent for the first three months of 2011 compared to last year's fourth quarter. However, the CREA indicated that more than half of local markets could be considered balanced based on the number of sales compared to new listings.
Where there was a significant rise in home buying, however, was in the luxury property market.
"A record number of multi-million dollar property sales … are pushing up average prices for Greater Vancouver, British Columbia and nationally," said Gregory Klump, Chief Economist for CREA. However, Klump noted that the national price hike wouldn't be as high were it not for Vancouver.
Luxury homes may lead to higher home insurance premiums as homebuyers often seek top-of-the-line policies, like comprehensive, which is the most inclusive type of coverage available.