Canada’s housing market ramped up significantly in June as provincial governments further reopened the economy, and market participants adapted to buying and selling homes during a pandemic. These factors bolstered the market even more in July. Local real estate boards are now reporting supercharged activity last month\u2014traditionally a quieter mid-summer period\u2014with resale increases ranging from 12% y\/y (Calgary) to 46% (Montreal). On a seasonally-adjusted basis (which will be officially published later this month), July activity could well be the strongest ever seen in Toronto and Montreal. We suspect Ottawa was in the same camp (July figures for Ottawa have yet to be released). Buyers who bided their time at the height of the pandemic clearly have played catch-up these past couple of months, displacing the spring season into the summer. But so have sellers. New listings also rose markedly in most markets in July. In contrast to June, though, the increase generally wasn’t quite as strong as the rise in resales. This tightened demand-supply conditions and propelled home prices higher. We expect the market’s vigour to continue in August and perhaps September. We believe there’s still some pent-up demand left to satisfy. The plunge in activity at the seasonal high point (spring) potentially delayed as many as 70,000 transactions that would have otherwise occurred across Canada during this period. We expect the phasing out of CERB and other financial support programs, high unemployment and lower in-migration to cool housing demand later this year.<\/p>\n