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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.$ F$ x, `8 }/ [1 s( |/ B M: k7 }
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The average sale price of a home last month was $281,133, a 9.9% decline from a year ago. It's the fifth straight month that prices have fallen in the country's major markets on a year over year basis, and each month the percentage decline has increased.
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# O$ u" U Z7 q* T) P; D/ [1 FSales 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.. T) ?6 }( `1 D# l) o G) X
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"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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' J$ L* j9 [% }: T+ }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.0 H m! {9 k# ^& A0 X7 z
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"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.9 O* q$ ^" [. I+ w
i* `& Y; v" ]% _- S O2 pHe 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.4 l2 ^1 |& q! d# q; P) D
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The market is expected to get some relief from the fact that new listings are expected to decline, Mr. Klump says.
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i' P. y5 \; t5 pCREA 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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