Hamilton leads yearly housing price increase

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

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

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

• RELATED:Are Hamilton house prices part of a national housing bubble?

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

The national average sale price was up 6.9 per cent from June2013 at $413,215.

Earlier this week, the Teranet-National Bank composite house price index showed a7.3-per cent increase in Hamilton housing prices over last year, and 3.1 per cent in the last month.

But the U.S. financial agencyFitch Ratings said this week that Canadas 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.