Canadian Real Estate Association forecasts average price rising 16.5 percent in 2021 amid lack of homes for sale

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      The average price of a home in Canada is expected to increase by 16.5 percent this year.

      The Canadian Real Estate Association made the forecast as it cited an “unprecendented imbalance of supply and demand”.

      According to the association, the inventory of homes available for sale at present is less than two months.

      “Conditions are now favouring sellers to some extent in virtually all local markets,” CREA said in its forecast released Monday (March 15).

      Citing as an example, the association noted that the “vast majority of Ontario markets are now into weeks of inventory”.

      Based on its forecast, the average price of a home in Canada will increase to $665,329 in 2021.

      That’s a 16.5 percent improvement over the national average of $570,947 in 2020, which in turn represented a 12.9 percent rise from 2019.

      The predicted average price of $665,329 could be a low ball estimate.

      “As with the annual sales figures, CREA believes this average price forecast to be well on the conservative side, in relation to current monthly data,” CREA stated.

      In B.C., the average price of a home in the province is expected to increase to $861,286 this year, representing a bump of 10.2 percent.

      Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec top the list of provinces with the highest expected increases in average home prices, at 21.2 percent, 18.4 percent, and 16.6 percent.

      B.C.’s 10.2 percent takes fourth place nationally.

      The CREA also stated that 701,000 homes are forecast to be sold in 2021.

      The figure represents a 27.3 percent increase over the 551,262 homes that changed hands in 2020. 

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