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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.
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! G9 v) y" W8 ]7 {7 LThe average sale price of a home last month was $281,133, a 9.9% decline from a year ago. It's the fifth straight month that prices have fallen in the country's major markets on a year over year basis, and each month the percentage decline has increased.6 g' G6 p x S/ K0 @' |. Q
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Sales also continue to decline across the country. In major markets, sales in October were down 15.1% from September. The 32,046 sales in October for the entire country were the lowest monthly level since July, 2002.
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8 Z4 K/ ~ {0 S! j& `2 v) V"The breadth and depth of the drop in MLS activity suggests a major downshift in consumers psychology," said Gregory Klump, chief economist CREA. "That has moved many homebuyers to the sidelines until economic news begins to improve."# V* h, m+ v7 ~$ I
- j2 ~# Y8 O9 k' N& M6 G1 ~+ dCREA 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.
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! V7 l3 B4 p+ G: O7 ~- g"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.
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6 K. A* l K2 S; ~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.
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# a; c& A5 A$ U: f0 g: O: k. @3 ^/ KThe market is expected to get some relief from the fact that new listings are expected to decline, Mr. Klump says.# j! K) A: @) E* ~
' J; H9 Y2 p) k5 E6 mCREA 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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发表于 2008-11-14 11:16
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发表于 2008-11-14 17:05
