The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales in June rose to their best pace since March 2010 — and Hamilton led the increase.

The association says sales through its Multiple Listings Service were up 0.8 per cent from May. The increase came as sales were up in about half of the markets tracked last month with the Vancouver region and Montreal leading the way.

Compared with a year ago, sales were 11.2 per cent higher led by Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Calgary, Toronto and Hamilton-Burlington.

CREA says the national sales-to-new listings ratio was 53.6 per cent in June, up slightly from 53.2 per cent in May, but still within the range for a balanced market.

The national average sale price was up 6.9 per cent from June 2013 at $413,215.

Earlier this week, the Teranet-National Bank composite house price index showed a 7.3-per cent increase in Hamilton housing prices over last year, and 3.1 per cent in the last month.

But the U.S. financial agency Fitch Ratings said this week that Canada’s real estate market is as much as 20 per cent overpriced. It cautions that the government may need to take more measures to slow down borrowing on homes.



