Calgary a Key Contributor to Sales Gains

According to CREA's September housing report, 24,897 homes changed hands through the first nine months of 2013 for an increase of 11.1 per cent. Calgary's neighbour to the north saw the second biggest increase in the country, as year-to-date sales in Edmonton rose by 8.1 per cent.

Year-over-year sales were also up substantially in Calgary, rising 20.5 per cent from to September 2012 to September of this year. Nationally, sales were up on a year-over-year basis in about 75 per cent of local markets.

"Year-over-year increases in the sales over the past couple of months highlights how activity softened across much of the country following the introduction of tighter mortgage rules last summer," said Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist.

"While the momentum for sales activity began improving a few months ago, it may be losing steam after having only just climbed back in line with an average of the past 10 years," added Klump. "Even so, one can see large year-on-year changes when comparing activity to a month like September 2012, when sales dropped to the lowest level for that month in more than a decade."

Month-to-month, the Calgary market saw a decline in September, as MLS® transactions in the city dropped by 0.9 per cent.

Calgary was also one of the top markets for price growth. According to CREA, the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in Calgary rose by 7.28 in September compared to a year ago for the biggest increase in Canada. Saskatoon posted the second biggest increase in the country, with the HPI increasing by 4.75 in the same period.

More susceptible to the fluctuations in sales than HPI, the national average price for homes sold in September 2013 was $385,906, an increase of 8.8 per cent from the same month last year. Year-over-year average price gains in recent months reflect the decline in sales activity recorded last year in some of Canada's larger and more expensive markets that caused the national average price to drop. If Greater Toronto, Greater Vancouver, and Calgary are removed from the national average price calculation, the year-over-year increase is 4.3 per cent.