Vancouvers housing sales remain on target to set a record in 2004, but monthly figures from September indicate the heated market from the past year and a half may be cooling. For the third consecutive month, sales in Vancouver in September 2004 dropped in comparison to the same period a year earlier.

While apartment sales were up by 6.5%, the sales of all housing for September in the Greater Vancouver area fell by 15% compared to the same month last year. Last month the sales of detached homes fell by 26.8% compared to September of 2003, according to figures released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Despite the recent slowdown, Board president Andrew Peck said that at the current rate of sales, 2004 will be a record for the real estate market because of the strong figures from the early half of the year.

We saw a considerable drop off. Does this mean its the end of our good market? Peck said Wednesday. The strong economic factors are still there. We couldnt continue to break records.

The benchmark price the boards unit to define a typical house increased to $504.650, up 14.8% from a year ago.

The Toronto housing trade saw more balanced conditions in September, as the number of listings hit the highest level of the year, helping to moderate a heated market. Last month saw the second-best September for home resales on record, with 6,588 units changing hands through the Toronto Real Estate Boards Multiple Listing System. That figure missed the September 2003, all-time record by 163 sales.

Inventory levels reached the highest level of the year in September, which is helping to keep the market from overheating, said TREB president Ron Abraham. With 24,293 active listings, this represents a 15% increase over last September and a significant 9% increase over August.

A higher level of inventory should put some constraints on price increases going forward, said Abraham. As a result, sellers may not experience such quick transactions.

Year-over-year, the average price of a home is up 8% from last September to $320,911 from $304,509.

In Hamilton, the number of sold signs may have dwindled in September but the areas real estate market remained strong. Home sales dropped 8% from September of last year and seven per cent from August, according to figures from the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.

But those numbers compare really strong sales months against one another, said association president Shawn Murray and the difference adds up to only about 60 or 70 sales.

People keep asking us when the bubble is going to burst. I dont see it bursting. The market is still very strong, said Murray.

The 1,073 sales for September marked the eighth straight month of more than 1,000 unit sales through the Associations MLS system. Last year hit a record-setting 12,809 transactions. More than 11,000 homes have been sold already this year.

Despite a cooling in prices and sales in September, the president of the Edmonton Real Estate Board still expects at least a near-record, year. REALTORS managed 1,438 residential sales during September compared with 1,443 in the same month last year.

Board president Bill Briggs noted that the seasonal downswing was minimal. We dont think anything has changed, said Briggs. Interest rates are still low, the Alberta economy is still booming. There are so many multi-billion-dollar projects in northern Alberta, its really keeping the economy going.

The average price of an Edmonton-area single-family house was $202,518 during September, down from the record high of $205,942 in July. However, the average house price is still well ahead of the $186,473 it notched in September last year. According to the Board, a home sold in Edmonton during September was listed an average of 43 days.

MLS Sales and listings in Calgary continued to keep pace in September, according to statistics released by the Calgary Real Estate Board. For the month of September 2004, combined residential listings new to the market numbered 3,586 units, up from Augusts 3,469 but down from the 3,622 units recorded in September 2003.

Total active residential listings numbered 7,403 at the end of September 2004 this compares to an inventory of 8,457 units at the end of September 2003.

In Calgary, the average combined residential sale price in September 2004 was $221,090, slightly down from Augusts $221,207. The average price for the same month last year was $214,895.

-Article provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association.