Business

Average Canadian house price soared 18% in past year, CREA says – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

September 15, 2020

Canada’s housing market continued its improbable run in August, as average prices jumped by almost 20 per cent from where they were a year earlier, and the number of homes sold shattered the monthly record.

The Canadian Real Estate Association, which represents more than 130,000 Realtors across the country, said Tuesday that 58,645 homes were sold during the month, which is 33 per cent more than changed hands in the same month last year. It’s also more than six per cent more than the number of homes that sold in July, which was itself a record for the month.

August is typically not a very busy month for home sales. Normally, the market starts off the year slowly in the cold winter months before spiking in the spring, cooling down through the summer and getting ice cold again toward the end of the year before the cycle begins anew in January.

But 2020 has thrown those seasonal trends out the window as lockdowns in March and April delayed a lot of home purchases and pushed the buying season until later in the year.

Even with a global pandemic that at last count had wiped out more than a million jobs from Canada’s labour market, last month was the sixth-busiest month on record for home sales, and the busiest August ever.

Prices skyrocketed, too. The average price of a Canadian home that sold last month was $586,000. That’s up 18.5 per cent from the same month last year.

CREA says the average price can be misleading because big sales in expensive markets like Toronto and Vancouver can skew the number. (Indeed, if those two cities are stripped out, the average drops by $122,000 to $464,000 last month.)

So CREA calculates another figure, known as the House Price Index, which the group says is a better gauge of the market because it adjusts for the volume and type of housing across markets.

The HPI rose by 9.4 per cent in August. That’s the biggest annual leap since 2017.

“It has been a record-setting summer in many housing markets across Canada, as realtors and their clients play catch up following the loss of so much of the 2020 spring market,” CREA chair Costa Poulopoulos said in a news release.

“It really does seem that the spring market shifted into the summer.”

Economists doubt that torrid pace can last

TD Bank economist Brian DePratto says the numbers suggest the market continues to “defy gravity” any way you slice them, but he wonders how long it can last.

“While the lack of spring market has been an important factor behind the unseasonably strong summer, as of August, the level of sales activity is now in line with historic norms, suggesting that much of this pent-up demand has been satisfied,” he said.

Despite sales plummeting to their lowest level in decades during those early months of lockdown, for 2020 as a whole so far 341,463 homes have changed owners through the first eight months of the year. That’s 0.8 per cent ahead of the sales pace this time last year.

“While Canadian housing markets have made a habit of mocking them in the past, the fundamentals augur for at least a partial retrenchment of sales activity over the remainder of the year.”

Bank of Montreal economist Sal Guatieri noted that despite new listings increasing at a faster pace than sales for the first time since the pandemic, the sales-to-listings ratio is still at its tightest level in 15 years, which he calls “a recipe for higher prices.”

But he, too, is doubtful that the booming market can last. “It’s looking like pent-up demand is just about running its course, and we’ll see where underlying sales settle. Some areas of the country will probably stay quite hot. Others, not.”

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Business

Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

Published

17 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

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Business

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

Published

2 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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Business

Transat AT reports $39.9M Q3 loss compared with $57.3M profit a year earlier

Published

2 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.

The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.

The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

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