Home sales in September fell 0.4 per cent compared to August, the first month-over-month dip since April, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Monday.
Sales fell in slightly more than half of all local markets, led by Vancouver Island and Edmonton, along with several markets in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe region. The move lower came as home sales compared with a year ago fell 8.9 per cent.
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The national average price for a home sold in September was just under $487,000, up 0.2 per cent compared with a year ago. Excluding the Greater Toronto Area and Greater Vancouver Area, the average price was just over $383,000.
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“Although sales dipped in September, there were bound to be some setbacks on the road to recovery,” TD economist Rishi Sondhi noted in a memo to clients shortly after the data release. Nationally, the housing market appears to be slowly bouncing back from the impact of new mortgage rules introduced at the start of the year, he added.
B.C., however, remains a notable exception, he wrote. Markets there are dealing with tighter provincial housing measures in addition to the stricter federal lending rules and rising borrowing costs.
“With ample supply relative to demand, B.C. home prices are likely to post subdued growth in the fourth quarter, compared to a relatively stronger gain expected for Canada overall.”
— With files from the Canadian Press
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