TORONTO: The sale of homes in Canada have dropped by 40 percent in Fenruary as compared to same month in 2022, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The Association noted that the plunge in sales came as actual average home prices declined 18.9 per cent compared with the all-time record posted in February 2022.
The actual average home price in Canada was $662,437 in February, down from $816,578 a year earlier, the association said.
Compared with January, national home sales rose 2.3 per cent in February from January, powered by gains in Toronto and Vancouver, while the number of newly listed properties dropped 7.9 per cent month over month. The drop in transactions in February brought sales in line with what was recorded in 2018 and 2019.
The housing market in Canada is facing decline for many months as the Bank of Canada hiked the interest rate to 4.5 percent, eight times in roughly a year. The mortgage rates have scared the buyers and sellers as well. Sellers stayed away from the market because they won't get the price at par with their investment. The prices of real estate in Canada had sky rocketed in the past few years due to huge investment by foreign investors.
While prices have softened to some degree almost everywhere across Canada, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, and St. John's stand out as markets where home prices are barely off their peaks. Overall, prices began to stabilize last fall in the Maritimes, and some markets in Ontario seem to be doing the same now.