Canadian property sales see second drop of 2014

Toronto, Canada, where sales and prices fky higher than the rest of the country Photo: Phil Grondin

Data from the Canadian real estate Boards and Associations shows that sales dipped 1.4 per cent month-on-month in September, the first monthly decline since January of this year.

Activity was down in about 60 per cent of all local housing markets in September, led by monthly declines in Calgary, Edmonton, Central Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, London & St. Thomas, Windsor-Essex, and Ottawa. Home sales rose on a month-over-month basis in Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan region, Mississauga, Durham and York regions of the Greater Toronto Area, Sherbrooke, and the Northern region of Nova Scotia.

The dip is attributed to the lack of affordable homes in the country's property hotspots, while sellers in other locations refused to lower prices to seal deals.

“Affordably priced single family homes are in short supply in some of Canada’s hottest housing markets, which contributed to the monthly decline in national sales activity in September,” says CREA President Beth Crosbie.

"That said, there are other markets with ample supply but sellers there are holding firm on price."