Vancouver leads Canada’s first home sales decline in five months

Canadian home sales declined for the first time in five months as activity in Vancouver and Toronto weakened. Sales in Vancouver fell by 1.5 per cent in September and benchmark prices declined 1.2 per cent, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday. In Toronto, the nation’s biggest city, sales fell 0.5 per cent and benchmark prices rose 0.1 per cent. Activity across the country fell by 0.4 percent, bringing the 12-month decline to 8.9 percent, according to the Ottawa-based realtor group. Sales fell in about half of the country’s real estate markets, with buyers and sellers still being influenced by rising mortgage rates and tougher qualification rules introduced at the start of the year, CREA President Barb Sukkau said. Some markets nonetheless saw sales increase in September, including an eight per cent rise in the Fraser Valley.