 鲜花( 7)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
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." c" }1 |% x, ^ S8 _5 `+ C3 T
9 O$ h; \3 H q4 C8 W
The average sale price of a home last month was $281,133, a 9.9% decline from a year ago. It's the fifth straight month that prices have fallen in the country's major markets on a year over year basis, and each month the percentage decline has increased.
. a* ?0 m. y6 ?) d, \
5 T/ a; F' P# ^2 cSales also continue to decline across the country. In major markets, sales in October were down 15.1% from September. The 32,046 sales in October for the entire country were the lowest monthly level since July, 2002.
) S% z+ v6 M9 a8 ^$ Q7 K5 D
5 d( v; W ] G3 T5 p0 Z+ Z- V"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.", F& F& N f2 D' M8 E: R! F
8 y2 B; I8 ]1 G* w- N! h
CREA 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.- I0 J& j! j8 K9 r: p
5 T, b0 _, o0 E/ [, P, u
"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.& _# W8 `# N" k G, f7 b) x. w' ^
1 D. h: {$ p& ?' \# r {& O" U" Q
He 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.+ W/ G& X0 I8 }6 M6 P
8 _. b c2 \+ YThe market is expected to get some relief from the fact that new listings are expected to decline, Mr. Klump says.
4 X& F- |1 j |6 @! F! L7 h: m1 L7 X' K* E( O
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.
4 {3 L2 O% a5 L8 q. V% F4 @* R- `6 l) s
The 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. |
|