Vancouver Leads Canada’s First Home Sales Decline in Five Months

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian home sales declined for the first time in five months as activity in Vancouver and Toronto weakened.

Sales in the west coast city fell by 1.5 percent in September and benchmark prices declined 1.2 percent, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday. In Toronto, the nation’s biggest city, sales fell 0.5 percent and benchmark prices rose 0.1 percent.

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 Montreal with a 1.9 percent gain and the Fraser Valley near Vancouver with a 8 percent rise.

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