Canadian home sales slide 15% in October

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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.

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.

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.

"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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4 s! s" G  x, H- rCREA 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.

% Y# S% z- [3 X2 z- {6 k1 Y& v"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.

; `: |! c6 {8 kHe 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.

' k4 [+ [8 D/ E6 k  X. I5 w. jThe market is expected to get some relief from the fact that new listings are expected to decline, Mr. Klump says.

) I3 ~, G  V- d) |+ N+ v$ P/ {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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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.

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CO2

地产协会这回是认衰了。9月份的时候嘴还很硬啊。

屯委书记

原帖由 CO2 于 2008-11-14 12:02 发表
地产协会这回是认衰了。9月份的时候嘴还很硬啊。

5 D3 I- l, @# E嘴硬没用

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