Scotiabank Economics has analyzed 31 local markets<\/a> from coast to coast, placing each under one of three categories: a buyer\u2019s market, a seller\u2019s market, or balanced.<\/p>\n\nThe report identifies seven as being in seller\u2019s market territory as recently last month.<\/p>\n
To determine where a market stands, Marc Desormeaux, a provincial economist for Scotiabank, looks at the sales-to-new listings ratio, a common gauge of market balance.<\/p>\n
Ratios in the 40-to-60-percent range typically reflected a balanced market. Buyers tend to have the upperhand when the ratio is lower, while sellers gain an edge when it is higher.<\/p>\n
Desormeaux also eyes the long-run norm, using the average ratio from 1990 to 2018 as a guide.<\/p>\n
Based on these considerations, Montreal is the top-ranked market for June, having moved up a spot from May.<\/p>\n
It has a sales-to-new listings ratio of 75.4, meaning for every 100 homes that are listed, approximately 75 homes are sold.<\/p>\n
\u201cMontreal reclaimed the mantle of Canada\u2019s tightest housing market,\u201d writes Desormeaux.<\/p>\n
The Atlantic Canada cities of Moncton, which topped the list in May, and Saint John follow in second and third, respectively.<\/p>\n
The remaining seller\u2019s markets are all located in Ontario: London, Windsor, Ottawa, and Sudbury.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of markets studied were deemed balanced in June \u2014 and that includes Toronto, the country\u2019s biggest, although it slipped one spot compared to May.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemand-supply conditions have stayed roughly balanced in most major centres and sales and prices are generally recovering from a broad-based slump in February,\u201d notes Desormeaux.<\/p>\n
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the national average price of a home was $505,500 in June, up 1.7 percent on a year-over-year basis, while sales activity was roughly flat over the same period.<\/p>\n
However, buyers had the advantage in four locales, with Regina remaining in dead last for another month. Vancouver, meantime, was the third-weakest market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile markets chilled in Toronto and Vancouver, both cities are still on an upward trend, as are many adjacent centres,\u201d says Desormeaux.<\/p>\n
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