Housing sales in Canada fall in April: CREA
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Canada’s housing market continued to show signs of some softness last month, with high borrowing costs dampening demand even as it drives more homeowners to sell.
The number of transactions on a seasonally adjusted basis fell 1.7 per cent in April from March, according to data released May 15 by the Canadian Real Estate Association. The number of newly listed homes rose by 2.8 per cent.
“Mortgage rates are still high, and it remains difficult for a lot of people to break into the market but, for those who can, it’s the first spring market in some time where they can shop around, take their time and exercise some bargaining power,” James Mabey, CREA’s chair, said in a statement.
Prices were little changed, which has been the trend over the past year.
Separately, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported that new housing starts dropped one per cent in April as builders continue to be weighed down by high borrowing costs. New construction in April is running at an annualized pace of 240,229 units – which remains less than half the pace the government needs in order to achieve its housing targets.
