A surge of new listings combined with a sharp decrease in sales for British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan's housing sector this spring, creating some of the most balanced real estate markets in the country.

"I've been in this business for over 35 years and I don't think I've ever seen a perfectly balanced market between buyers and sellers," says Toronto real estate agent Kathy Judson of Homelife Prestige Realty.

Judson played down any idea of the excess inventory making it an overwhelming buyer's market during the second half of this year.

"It will naturally work itself out," she says. "It depends on what area you're in and a lot of different other factors."

Kathy Judson

The number of residential properties listed with real estate boards across the country rose an average of 1.8 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis to 78,878 units in May 2008, setting a second consecutive monthly record for this year, according to statistics released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Seasonally adjusted sales activity on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), meanwhile, edged lower by 1.2 per cent month-over-month to 38,133 units this past May.

It was partly due to fewer transactions in B.C., Saskatchewan and Alberta.

That was slightly offset by a monthly rise in activity in Ontario, which resulted from record sales in Ottawa and a rebound in Toronto's numbers, according to CREA officials.

Toronto's sales continued a steady decline on a month-over-month basis when compared with a record year in 2007, but average prices were still up, figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) show.

The city's resale housing market recorded 9,411 transactions in May, a 16-per-cent decrease over the same month last year, when a record 11,146 properties were sold. It was up, however, from the 8,762 units sold the month before in April, which was a seven-per-cent decrease in the sales reported in April 2007.

Toronto real estate agents sold 8,600 properties in June, which was an 18-per-cent decrease from the June 2007 total of 10,451 units.

A press release from the CREA noted there was also a 22-per-cent increase in listings with 26,698 properties going on the market in June compared with 21,789 during the same period in 2007.

Judson noted a harsh Toronto winter kept at least some buyers away during the early part of this year. When people started attending open houses in the spring, gas prices were weighing heavily on their minds. "They don't want to drive that far to work if they don't have to," she said.

Federal Finance officials moved swiftly earlier this month to announce they were tightening rules for maximum mortgage amortization periods and imposing a minimum down payment.

File photo by Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Calgary's residential housing market is similar to many across Canada as it deals with a surge of new listings and a decrease in sales.

Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney had dropped hints in recent weeks that he wanted to close loopholes that led to the credit crisis in the U.S. Many of the conditions, however - like NINJA (no income, no jobs, no assets) loans - already didn't apply.

ING Direct was the first bank to immediately announce it would be cancelling 40-year mortgages and zero down-payment plans. That was followed by two of Canada's biggest banks - BMO and CIBC - that quickly stopped taking applications that used those criteria.

Judson said despite concerns, buyers have no need to worry.

"This is an entirely different situation (to the U.S.). I mean, there is no chance of something similar happening here," she said. "They don't have anything like the CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.) or other safeguards that we have here."

Catherine DeLuce, president and CEO of Toronto-based Chestnut Park Real Estate, said her agents were enjoying a good year, especially after joining the newly formed Peerage Realty Partners network with Baker Real Estate Corp., also in Toronto.

"The market is very strong in Toronto's central core, where we do most of our business," DeLuce said. "And I think the rest of this year is going to continue to be good."

The market is remaining steady across the country right now, said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

"Our numbers for the first six months of the year will be out at the end of this month, but I can't really see any major change from the forecast we did in May."

That forecast predicted national home sales would drop 11.5 per cent to 460,000 units in 2008 and settle a further four per cent the following year.

CREA officials believe the market will be tightest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, pushing price increases up to the highest in the country.

Members of the Winnipeg Realtors Association were popping champagne corks at the end of May and June after posting their highest dollar volume in the organization's 105-year history. Agents sold $319.7 million in properties during May and $317 million during June.

Winnipeg's average residential detached sale price in May was $221,431, an increase of 13.7 per cent over the average closing price of $194,728 recorded in May 2007.

Saskatoon's housing market stabilized during May with 1,015 properties being put up for sale, compared with 706 properties available during the same month a year ago in May 2007, according to the Saskatoon Real Estate Board.

That was offset by 367 homes valued at a total of just over $110 million sold during May, board officials said. It was down 18 per cent over May 2007, when more than $135 million worth of real estate was sold.

The board added the Saskatoon market still remains strong, with more than $525 million worth of real estate being sold up to May.

That is up 23 per cent from the same time period in 2007, when almost $429 million worth of real estate was purchased.

The average selling price of a residential single-family dwelling in May was $301,527, a bargain compared with Calgary's average for the same month of $479,564 and Edmonton coming in at $383,167.

Meanwhile, an increase in new listings may create excess inventory and a buyer's market for Edmonton real estate agents, where 4,294 homes were listed in May and 1,821 sold. That's double the normal housing supply levels on the market, according to the Realtors Association of Edmonton.

"Our members report the market is very active with sales just slightly below the normal level," association president Marc Perras said in a press release.

MLS numbers from the Calgary Real Estate Board were down in almost all categories. Board data showed June listings of single-family dwellings fell 18.8 per cent over the previous month to 2,787 units.

Sales were also down in Calgary 18.1 per cent to 1,439 compared with the same month in 2007. They edged up slightly 5.2 per cent from the previous month's total of 1,368.

The average price of a single-family home in Calgary was $473,774 in June, down 4.7 per cent from the same month in 2007, with an average price of $496,890.

Prices in May didn't fare that much better, with an average of $479,564 for a 1.6-per-cent drop from $487,523 in May 2007.

That balancing act between increased new listings and lower sales was particularly evident in Vancouver, however, when the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board released its statistics for May.

The number of residential property sales in the city declined 30.7 per cent to 3,002 in May 2008, compared with the 4,331 units that were sold during the same period in 2007.

New listings for attached, detached and apartment properties, however, were up 20.2 per cent to 7,390 in May 2008, compared with 6,149 in May 2007.

Sales of detached properties in May 2008 dropped 33.4 per cent to 1,244, compared with the 1,805 sales recorded during the same period in Vancouver during 2007.

The board also noted buyers had better have big wallets this year.

The benchmark price for detached properties went up 8.4 per cent from May 2007 to $771,250, according to its MLSLink Housing Price Index, a barometer used by the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley boards since 2004.

(David Hatton can be reached at hatton@businessedge.ca)