Canadian home sales down 1.6 per cent in October
The average home price fell to $496K Compared with October 2017, home sales last month were down 3.7 per cent.
Canadian home sales fell for a second month in a row in October, as sold prices and the number of new listings also dropped, an indicator that the national real estate market remains in more balanced territory.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales across the country through its multiple-listing service system dropped by 1.6 per cent last month compared with September as the number of transactions fell in more than half of all local markets including Montreal, Edmonton and the Hamilton-Burlington area.
Compared with October 2017, sales last month were down 3.7 per cent as lower sales in the Vancouver region and the B.C. Fraser Valley more than offset gains in the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal. The drop came as the average price for a home sold in October fell 1.5 per cent to $496,800, when compared with the same month a year ago.
Excluding the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver area, two of the country’s most expensive and active markets, the average price of a sold home was just under $383,000.
The board says the number of new listings also dipped 1.1 per cent in October, led by declines in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary and Victoria. CREA’s chief economist Gregory Klump says there are signals of “waning activity,” especially in areas in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, which encompasses the cities of Barrie, Hamilton, Waterloo and Peterborough.
“National sales activity lost momen- tum in October,” he said in a statement.
The mortgage stress test came into effect in January, adding downward pressure on property values that were still adjusting to other newly introduced measures such as a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax in Ontario.