Home sales fell again in September

"The sale of homes in Canada decreased again in the month of September as the Canadian housing market conditions continued to show signs of slowing down. New statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), representing over 100,000 real estate agents in Canada, indicate that the number of homes sold in the past three months has declined, and benchmark prices have also dropped.
CREA, which compiles monthly statistics based on sales through its Multiple Listing Service, reported that the downward trend in sales, which began with a rapid increase in mortgage rates, continued throughout the month, with month-to-month sales volume declining from June to Sptember.
The CREA national price index decreased by 0.3% over the past month, the first decrease since March, mainly due to a slowdown in Ontario. In most other provinces, prices are still increasing, albeit at a slower pace. Larry Cerqua, CREA's President, stated, "Buyers appear to be holding off as long as interest rates seem to be at their highest final level." He added, "This, along with sellers who don't necessarily need to sell, means that the market is likely to remain at a slower pace until next year."
Benjamin Reitzes, an economist at the Bank of Montreal, concurred that as long as interest rates remain at their current levels, the housing market is in an undesirable state. He said, "The current levels of interest rates and prices don't mix well. One of the two needs to come down, and it doesn't look like the Bank of Canada will be reducing interest rates in the near future."
He added, "The housing market may face a tough winter, although, as always, location matters, and some provinces are likely to face more challenges." Across Canada, the average price of a home sold in the past month was $655,507. This is a 2.5% increase compared to the same time last year, but CREA noted that the average number can easily be skewed upwards by events in expensive markets like Toronto and Vancouver.
Vasyl Staikov, a real estate consultant in Toronto, said that the only reason the average price is currently half of that is due to a change in the mix of properties being sold. He told CBC News in an interview, "We are selling more single-family homes now than apartments, which affects the average price."
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