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A slowdown in some of the country's most expensive cities for housing continues to drag down the average sale price of a home in Canada, the Canadian Real Estate Association said.
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, m- d0 |6 f' b6 _2 o# hThe average sale price of a home last month was $281,133, a 9.9% decline from a year ago. It's the fifth straight month that prices have fallen in the country's major markets on a year over year basis, and each month the percentage decline has increased.
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Sales also continue to decline across the country. In major markets, sales in October were down 15.1% from September. The 32,046 sales in October for the entire country were the lowest monthly level since July, 2002.
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1 q$ ]( p3 m5 q2 q; {& o. W$ r"The breadth and depth of the drop in MLS activity suggests a major downshift in consumers psychology," said Gregory Klump, chief economist CREA. "That has moved many homebuyers to the sidelines until economic news begins to improve."
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; E+ h3 k: r( JCREA said activity was down in 75% of the Canadian markets it surveys, including the five most active, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Toronto accounted for one third of the decline in the national sales figure.
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5 N' z; y a0 ^. J"Many homebuyers across Canada battened down the hatches in October as they were concerned with dire headlines about stock market volatility and a global economic downturn," said Mr. Klump.5 U( L2 J$ g/ ]4 j; r6 d) d
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He said the government's tougher restrictions on home buying played into the decline. New rules that came into effect last month have forced consumers to have at least 5% down on any home purchase. Mortgages can also be amortized over 35 years, down from 40 years, making for a larger monthly payment.$ G2 C# |% q* q b" h% X8 l( Y
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The market is expected to get some relief from the fact that new listings are expected to decline, Mr. Klump says.. {) F( Y9 w; m' M
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CREA president Calvin Lindberg said consumer confidence has not been this low since the mid-1990s. "The major drop in consumer and a steady stream of economic bad news from the financial markets is taking its toll on the national housing market," he said.! s3 z- f$ `% G4 c
6 b# q4 L3 J* D4 G7 a4 UThe association pointed out a decline in housing is bad news for the overall economy, saying spin off spending from MLS transaction is about $15.3-billion per year when you include moving and renovation costs and the purchase of new furniture and appliances. |
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