September 2012

U.S. existing home sales increased more than expected in August

• Existing home sales in the US jumped 7.8% to 4.82 million annualized units in August 2012. Market expectations were for a modest increase to 4.56 million in the month.
• The median price of existing homes jumped 9.5% on a year-over-year basis as the share of distressed property sales declined.
• Homes available for sales rose by 2.9%; however, this was exceeded by the faster pace of sales leading the months’ supply of unsold homes to fall to 6.1 from 6.4 in the previous month.
• Existing home sales were up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis in August and are up 7.4% year to date. The overall improvement in the pace of sales, firming prices, shrinking housing inventories, and decreasing

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Global housing markets remain under strain, says the latest Global Real Estate Trends report by Scotiabank. "Among the international property markets we track, the number of countries reporting declining average real prices on a year-over-year basis outnumbered those reporting increases by more than two-to-one," says Adrienne Warren, senior economist at Scotiabank. She adds, "Weak consumer confidence, high unemployment and tight credit conditions continue to weigh heavily on housing demand and pricing." Canadian housing activity remains relatively buoyant, but has slowed. Adjusted for inflation, national average prices fell 2% year-over-year in Q2 2012, matching Q1 declines. Read: Canadians confident about housing A slower pace of job growth and the

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VICTORIA BC - The August real estate market continues to be steady and flat, considered by the Victoria Real Estate Board to reflect the "wait and see" attitude its Member REALTORS® are hearing from the buying public. Total MLS® residential sales for August 2012 was 462 compared to 542 for the same period in 2011. During the month, 240 single family homes sold throughout the Victoria Real Estate Board’s region, 67 fewer than the 307 sold in August 2011. The average price for single family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $590,843, down from August 2011’s average of $652,841. The median price is down by $17,000 to $530,000. There are 5,034 active listings. "Sales are down 11.5% over August 2011. When seasonally adjusted, there is little…