Increasing mortgage rates slowed home sales in April from the frenzied pace they started the year at, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday.
The association found the number of homes sold dropped by 25.7 per cent to 54,894 last month from 73,907 in April 2021, when the country set a record for the month.
On a month-over-month basis, sales in April were down 12.6 per cent compared with March, but still ranked as the third-highest April sales figure, just behind 2021 and 2016.
“The demand fever in Canadian housing has broken and, who would have thought, all it took was a nudge in interest rates by the Bank of Canada to change sentiment,” said BMO Capital Markets senior analyst Robert Kavcic, in a note to investors.
CREA attributed much of the slowdown to fixed mortgage rates, which have been on the rise since 2021, but have been more impactful in recent months. The association pointed out that typical discounted five-year fixed rates have leaped from about three to four per cent over the span of a month.
The rate is also weighing on how buyers fare with the mortgage stress test, which once required those with uninsured mortgages – borrowers with a down payment of at least 20 per cent – to carry a mortgage rate of either two percentage points above the contract rate, or 5.25 per cent, whichever is greater.
For fixed borrowers, CREA said the stress test just moved from 5.25 per cent to the low six per cent range, another roughly one per cent increase in a month.
“People are nervous. They are thinking, ‘if I take on this mortgage, when mortgage rates are going up and the price to (live) is more, what is going to happen?” said Anita Springate-Renaud, a Toronto broker with Engel & Volkers.
She noticed that many homes were still getting multiple offers last month, but instead of 20 offers, two or three was becoming the norm.
Properties are also taking longer to sell. Homes that used to find a buyer in three or four days are now sitting for two weeks, in some cases, she said.
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Many other realtors have found buyers and sellers holding off on purchasing or listing properties until they see how much of an effect mortgage and interest rate changes have on the market.
“For buyers, this slowdown could mean more time to consider options in the market,” said Jill Oudil, CREA’s chair, in a news release.
“For sellers, it could necessitate a return to more traditional marketing strategies.”
This shift in sentiment was reflected in the number of newly listed homes, which, on a seasonally adjusted basis, fell by 2.2 per cent to 70,957 last month from 72,557 in March.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, new listings amounted to 91,559 last month, down 10.5 per cent from 102,294 in April 2022.
Even though CREA reported slowing sales and fewer listings, Canadians were shelling out even more for homes than they did in 2021.
The national average home price was a little over $746,000 in April, up 7.4 per cent from about $695,000 during the same month last year.
Excluding the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas from this calculation, cuts $138,000 from the national average price, CREA said.
However, on a seasonally adjusted basis the national average home price slid by 3.8 per cent to $741,517 last month from $771,125 in March.
The home price index benchmark price hit $866,700 last month, down 0.6 per cent from a month ago but up 23.7 per cent from a year ago and 63.9 per cent from five years ago.
The benchmark price was lowest in Saskatchewan, where it totalled $271,100 and highest in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, where it amounted to more than $1.3 million.
Kavcic found Ontario markets “weakening most and fastest, especially further outside the core of Toronto (these were also the hottest markets in the country during the pandemic).”
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Ontario’s suburban markets are the “shakiest” because of how prices have fallen from February peaks, but he said single-detached and townhomes look to be cooling quickest.
“Sales in the province slid 21 per cent in April and are now back in-line with pre-pandemic activity levels,” he said.
“The market balance has gone from drum tight with ‘not enough supply,’ to one that resembles the 2017-19 correction period.”
Within the province, TD Economics economist Rishi Sondhi found Toronto be an outlier because sales and prices dropped more there than in the country overall.
Sondhi believes the Toronto market is now close to tipping in favour of buyers, but in the coming months, expects prices to continue falling nationally, reflecting the cooler demand backdrop.
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.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
