Canada June Home Sales Rise 8.7%

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian sales of existing homes rose for a fifth month in June, adding to evidence that record low borrowing costs are fueling housing demand.

Sales rose 8.7 percent to 41,304 homes from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Canadian Real Estate Association said today in a statement from Ottawa. Average home prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier and the inventory of unsold homes fell to its lowest since August 2007.

Recent data on Canada’s housing market suggest the Bank of Canada’s efforts to stimulate spending with interest rate cuts are helping fuel demand for homes and may be reversing a slump in home construction. The Bank of Canada, which forecast that housing will shed 1.1 percentage points from growth in 2009, has cut its benchmark lending rate to a record 0.25 percent.

Montreal housing market rebounding

The housing market in Montreal is the most balanced between buyers and sellers it has been in decades, according to the Quebec director of Royal LePage Real Estate Services.

As a result, Dominic St-Pierre predicts the average house price will rise a moderate 2.1 per cent this year to $263,500.

“Between 2001 and 2007, it was a seller’s market and buyers had to act very quickly or they would lose the property they were interested in and at the end of 2008 and early 2009, we experienced a shift to a buyer’s market,” St-Pierre said. “Today, we have reached a more balanced state where supply and demand are more in line.”

Canadians clean up in Lee County's real estate field

Terry Dona, sales manager at Gulf Coast Associates Realtors in Bonita Springs, said Canadians comprise most of her foreign buyers at about "80 to 1."

"We have quite a few Canadians who are looking for property all the time," Dona said. "It's obviously picked up even more in the last 12 months."

Dona attributed the influx of Canadian home buyers partly to the dollar's rate of exchange and also to appealing prices.

Canada has experienced an advantageous rate of exchange the past year, with exchange rates as high as $1.30 in March.

The U.S. dollar is currently equivalent to about $1.15 in Canadian currency.

Calgary real estate pros to hold industry extravaganza

With Calgary’s housing market picking up steam again, more than 80 real estate professionals, 20 bankers and several home renovation experts and mortgage insurers will gather Saturday for a one-day home buying and renovation extravaganza.

A carnival atmosphere is planned for two RONA locations — 90 Crowfoot Way N.W. and 9630 Macleod Trail S — for the Under the Tent Home Buyers and Renovation Event, which is a free information day of seminars and one-on-one home buying, financial and advisory services open to the general public from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“This is a perfect time with low interest rates and reduced house prices for current owners and first-time home buyers to learn more about the home buying and renovation options,” said Laura Parsons, area manager, mortgage specialists, Calgary District, BMO Bank of Montreal.