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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." p, n, D3 a5 r* v9 R
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The average sale price of a home last month was $281,133, a 9.9% decline from a year ago. It's the fifth straight month that prices have fallen in the country's major markets on a year over year basis, and each month the percentage decline has increased.
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Z; d' w& ~& F3 `( s6 sSales also continue to decline across the country. In major markets, sales in October were down 15.1% from September. The 32,046 sales in October for the entire country were the lowest monthly level since July, 2002.# o6 Y t3 {8 a2 |# }0 A. s
8 `9 _: s/ o. m& s6 O. E. A1 S"The breadth and depth of the drop in MLS activity suggests a major downshift in consumers psychology," said Gregory Klump, chief economist CREA. "That has moved many homebuyers to the sidelines until economic news begins to improve."
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# s E/ q$ u6 k4 w* d; P5 W# zCREA 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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( U- u- p9 e! I3 F- O3 H"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.' g2 }. i. p7 [* {- O; b5 i
: t0 Q5 y% L3 `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.4 R! P4 N9 _( J; y+ a
: \: Q% z1 b# t l. ^( IThe market is expected to get some relief from the fact that new listings are expected to decline, Mr. Klump says.
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4 L% \) f+ }3 S }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.4 ^) G+ I' u2 S( `, T4 \3 S
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The 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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