Prices exhibit resilience, record biggest gain since 2006

National home sales declined for a third consecutive month in July, according to statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The number of homes trading hands via Canadian MLS® Systems fell by 1.3 per cent month-over-month in July 2016. With similar monthly declines having been posted in May and June, national sales activity in July came in 3.9 per cent below the record set in April 2016. (Chart A)

Sales activity was down from the previous month in slightly more than half of all markets in July, led by Greater Vancouver and B.C.'s Fraser Valley. Transactions in these two markets peaked in February of this year, and have since then dropped by 21.5 and 28.8 percent respectively.

Over the past five decades, Calgary's real estate industry has been bare to it all – from double-digit interest rates to densification. Continuing until the end of 2016, CREB®Now will weave together an incredible narrative of how the local housing industry has evolved through the unique perspectives of CREB®'s 30 remaining past presidents.

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Diane Scott's recalls her year as CREB® president in 2010 as one of contention, highlighted by a very public battle between the federal competition watchdog and the country's national real estate association.

Dubbed the "Competition Bureau years," Scott said the debate around what the bureau deemed "anti-competitive real estate rules," which it said limited consumer choice and prevented innovation, shook up the industry then, and its results have reverberated even to today.

"It had everyone pretty riled up," she remembered. "It was a very, very tough year for REALTORS® to understand the models were to be accepted, regardless of what model it was."

Local housing industry experts say a change that governs the amount buyers are required to put down when purchasing a home will significantly impact Calgary's already sluggish market.

Effective Feb. 15, 2016, the change announced by the federal government in early December will raise the minimum down payment for new insured mortgages from five to 10 per cent on the portion of the house price above $500,000.

"The intent of [the change] is to pull back demand, and they're slowing demand in a market where we're already seeing demand slow," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie, noting resale residential sales in Calgary have already dropped nearly 20 per cent from the 10-year average.

CREB®Now sits down with Canadian Real Estate Association president

Pauline Aunger is no stranger to Canada's real estate market. As president of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), she has a unique behind-the-curtains perspective of the industry – from its performance to advocacy efforts.

CREB®Now recently sat down with Aunger, who was in Calgary recently as part of CREA's cross-country open house series with local real estate boards. Here's what she had to say about everything from insurance premiums to how Calgary factors into her bucket list.