June 2020 is a Lift Off month

Following the broader movement to reopen the economy in June, we experienced a very positive result in terms of home sales and selling prices. Before the onset of COVID-19, there was a great deal of pent-up demand in the market. This pent-up demand arguably increased further over the past three months. We are still in the early days of recovery, but barring any setbacks, we should continue to see stronger market conditions in the second half of 2020 as households look to satisfy their ownership housing needs.

A gradually improving labour market and historically low mortgage rates are expected to support a recovery in home sales in the second half of 2020 along with sustained year-over-year price growth. Given that home sales result in substantial spin-off expenditure in the regional economy, the housing market will be an important driver of overall economic recovery this year and into 2021.