Some interesting data from our friends at REW and the CREA. What’s in store for 2022? Read on to see…
December rounded off 2021 with a record-breaking lack of homes for sale on the market, pushing red-hot conditions into the new year.
The latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reports that with only 1.6 months of inventory available on the market last month, December 2021 tops the list for the month with the least amount of inventory in Canadian history. This means that if no new homes came onto the market, we’d completely sell out at our current pace before March Break.
Previously, the record low was 1.8 months, as seen in March and November of 2021. Before last year, there hadn’t been a month dip below 2 months of inventory, and in 2021 almost half of the year was spent below this benchmark.
It’s clear that record-low inventory levels are continuing to drive the separation between extremely low supply and strong consumer demand.
A total of 35,971 transactions took place in the month of December across the country, which is -9.9% below the record set in 2020. As was the case with most of the later months in 2021, although the sales were below last year’s peak, they were still the second-highest on record. High demand for housing coupled with record-low supply continues to drive prices higher, as the national MLS Home Price Index Benchmark reached $811,700, an increase of 26.6% or $150,000 from a benchmark of $661,700 this time last year.
New listings did not keep up with the seasonally-heightened level of transactions seen last month, as the national sales-to-new-listing ratio (SNLR) climbed to 79.7%. Almost two-thirds of CREA’s reported local markets were recorded as being a seller’s market (SNLR above 70%) with the remaining one-third of markets being recorded as a balanced market (SNLR between 40-60%).
Ultra-Low Listings In Early 2022 Set the Stage for a Hot Spring Market
Looking at 2021 in its entirety, a total of 666,995 residential properties traded hands over the year. This was a new record by a considerable margin, up 20% from the previous record set in 2022 and 30% from the ten-year average – demonstrating just how high sales demand has been this year, and how inventory is struggling to keep up.
And while sales volumes have decreased in the latter half of 2021 compared to the year prior, it’s clear that the extremely-low supply levels on the market are constraining the total number of transactions, as buyers quickly snatch up any new properties that hit the market.
According to industry experts, we can expect this trend to continue into 2022. “With the housing supply issues facing the country having only gotten worse to start 2022, take any decline in sales early in the year with a grain of salt because the demand hasn’t gone away, there just won’t be much to buy until a little later in this spring” said Cliff Stevenson, Chair of CREA.
“But when those listings eventually start to show up, the spring market this year will almost certainly be another headline grabber. If you’re thinking about jumping into the market as either a buyer, seller or both, your local REALTOR® has the information and guidance you’ll need to navigate the market in these unprecedented times,” continued Stevenson
