Montreal home sales post best July in 8 years

MONTREAL (CP) — Forget Vancouver and Toronto — Canada’s hottest housing market these days may be Montreal.

The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board released data Friday showing that 3,075 homes were sold in July, an increase of 16 per cent compared with a year ago and the most for the month in eight years.

That contrasts with Toronto, where sales last month plunged 40.4 per cent while in Vancouver they dropped 8.2 per cent.

The price of homes in Montreal was also higher, albeit still well short of levels seen in Vancouver and Toronto. The median price of a single-family home in Montreal rose to $323,000, up eight per cent from July 2016. The median condominium price edged up two per cent to $256,000.

“For single-family homes, market conditions for resales are increasingly favouring sellers, which explains why price increases have been more sustained in recent months,” Mathieu Cousineau, president of the GMREB board of directors, said in a statement.

While much attention has been focused on Vancouver and Toronto, Montreal’s housing market has escaped the frenzied action that prompted the B.C. and Ontario governments

Woman dies after being hit by garbage truck

CALGARY — Police say a woman has died after being hit by a garbage truck.

The collision occurred Friday morning at a parking lot in the city’s northeast.

Police say a garbage truck driven by a 58year-old man was driving into a parking lot to pick up waste when the woman was hit.

They say the woman was knocked down as the truck was backing up and dragged a short distance before being run over.

Police say the driver did not see the woman until he completed a turn and saw the pedestrian on the ground.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver was uninjured.

Police continue to investigate.

Costco recalling broccoli florettes in B.C.

OTTAWA — Costco Wholesale is recalling Gold Coast brand of Broccettes, or broccoli florettes, due to possible E. coli contamination.

The produce was sold in British Columbia in 908 gram packages with a product code of 12 AU 2017. to take action.

In April, Ontario introduced more than a dozen measures to improve home affordability, including a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers. Since then, the average price for all properties sold in Toronto has shaved off nearly $175,000 from its peak of the year of $920,791, but it remains up year-over-year.

In Vancouver, the province imposed a 15 per cent foreign buyers’ tax a year ago and the volume of transactions immediately tumbled.

While the number of sales in the city cooled last month, the composite benchmark price for all residential properties in the area cracked $1 million for the first time, coming in at $1,019,400, up 8.7 per cent from July 2016.

The slowing pace of sales in Vancouver and Toronto has also come as mortgage rates have started to move higher with the Bank of Canada’s increase in its key interest rate target last month.

The increase by the central bank prompted the big Canadian banks to raise their prime lending rates, which pushed variable-rate mortgages higher. Bond yields also moved up, affecting the rates offered on new fixedrate mortgages.

There have been no reported illnesses and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the recall was prompted by the company.

The agency says it is conducting a foodsafety investigation.

Food contaminated with E. coli may not look or smell spoiled but can still make people sick.

Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea, and in severe cases some people have had seizures or strokes, or have died.

Thieves cutting exhaust filters from diesel trucks

SASKATOON — Police in Saskatoon are warning owners of diesel trucks about a crime trend that targets them.

In the first half of July, there were 11 reports in the city of diesel particulate filter catalysts being stolen off the bottoms of trucks.

The filters are used to remove soot from the exhaust of a diesel engine, and some cores are made from metal fibres which contain precious metals.

Police spokesperson Kelsie Fraser says the suspects are using some sort of tool to cut and remove the filters.