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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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. G `1 D$ ]+ B" s9 dThe average sale price of a home last month was $281,133, a 9.9% decline from a year ago. It's the fifth straight month that prices have fallen in the country's major markets on a year over year basis, and each month the percentage decline has increased.% i, E6 m% T- v' w t0 E! _4 r0 @
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Sales also continue to decline across the country. In major markets, sales in October were down 15.1% from September. The 32,046 sales in October for the entire country were the lowest monthly level since July, 2002.
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6 V5 s H* s: s"The breadth and depth of the drop in MLS activity suggests a major downshift in consumers psychology," said Gregory Klump, chief economist CREA. "That has moved many homebuyers to the sidelines until economic news begins to improve."
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' `1 @. H4 f s1 ^+ |9 yCREA said activity was down in 75% of the Canadian markets it surveys, including the five most active, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Toronto accounted for one third of the decline in the national sales figure., n4 ~4 X& L' E! z: y
" P9 ~; K5 O3 O; N3 M6 N1 w"Many homebuyers across Canada battened down the hatches in October as they were concerned with dire headlines about stock market volatility and a global economic downturn," said Mr. Klump.6 S$ f0 E, k8 a
. R0 w6 l( L4 z4 x0 G4 k3 I% wHe 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.# @+ B8 G/ ]3 S; A! i3 h
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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./ |' J' K5 l" V( F+ ^! x. x' W! t
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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.
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$ x) C" \6 d/ }7 ?2 GThe 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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