Canadian Home Sales Down In August

OTTAWA — According to statistics released on Sept. 17 by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity dropped sharply from July to August 2012.
Highlights:
•  Home sales down 5.8% from July to August.
•  Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 8.9% below levels in August 2011.
•  Number of newly listed homes down 1.7% from July to August.
•  Housing market remains firmly in balanced territory at the national level.
•  National average home price up 0.3% on a year-over-year basis in August.
•  The Composite Aggregate Benchmark home price was up 4% in August, its smallest gain in over a year.
The number of home sales processed through the MLS® Systems of real estate Boards and Associations in Canada fell 5.8 per cent between July and August 2012, marking the largest month-over-month decline since June 2010.
Since CREA’s last resale housing forecast, mortgage regulations were tightened further, activity in Ontario softened, and the slowdown of sales activity in British Columbia deepened. As a result of these developments, CREA has lowered its forecast for Canadian home sales this year and next. The national average price forecast has also been reduced, reflecting an expected decrease in Ontario’s and British Columbia’s provincial sales as a proportion of national activity.