Last month, national home sales returned to the levels observed during much of the second half of 2014, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported May 15. In April, sales, as tracked through the MLS® systems of Canadian real estate boards and associations, edged up 2.3 per cent compared to March, marking a third consecutive month-over-month increase.

“As expected, low mortgage interest rates and the onset of spring ushered many homebuyers off the sidelines, particularly in regions where winter was long and bitter,” said Pauline Aunger, president, CREA.

The GTA, surrounding Golden Horseshoe region and Montreal led the local markets, two-thirds of which saw increases in home sales in April.

“In recent years, the seasonal pattern for home sales and listings has become amplified in places where listings are in short supply relative to demand,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist, CREA. “This particularly stands out in and around Toronto. Sellers there have increasingly delayed listing their home until spring.”

April’s national home sales also marked a (non-seasonally adjusted) year-over-year increase of 10 per cent.

From March to April, new listings were static, up 0.1 per cent last month.

At 55.3 per cent, April’s national sales-to-new listings ratio was within the 40 to 60 per cent range generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions.

The MLS® Home Price Index, which more accurately reflects price trends by controlling for the changing mix of sales activity, rose 4.97 per cent, year over year, in April.

The 9.5-per-cent year-over-year increase in the national average sales price, to $448,862, drops to 3.5 per cent, for a national average sales price of $339,893, when Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver are left out of the equation.

Up 5.84 per cent, single family home sales continued to lead year-over-year price gains among the different housing types. Apartment units posted the lowest year-over-year price gains, up 2.6 per cent.