Toronto, Vancouver add nearly $150,000 to average Canadian house price

The hot real estate market in Toronto and the surrounding areas helped push home sales up last month to their highest mark in nearly a year.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales though its MLS system hit their highest level since last April, gaining 5.2 per cent in February compared to January.

READ MORE: Did you sell your home in 2016? Let the CRA know or else…

Get weekly money news

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.

Sign up for weekly money newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The association says February sales were up from the previous month in about 70 per cent of all local markets it measures, with the national increase driven by the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding regions.

CREA president Cliff Iverson says homes are selling briskly throughout the Greater Toronto Area and nearby communities, but elsewhere, competition among potential buyers is less intense, so listings take longer to sell.

READ MORE: Are federal mortgage rules actually working? Not really.

Compared with a year ago, sales were down 2.6 per cent from February 2016 due to a slowdown in B.C.’s Lower Mainland region.

The national average price for a home sold in February was $519,521, up 3.5 per cent from a year ago, boosted by Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto.

Excluding those two markets, the national average price was $369,728.