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The latest numbers are out from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the country's housing market has cooled off greatly.
National home sales tumbled 13.9% year-over-year in April, to their lowest level in more than five years.
Month to month, home sales across the country decreased 2.9% from March to April, with the number of listings also falling by 4.8%.
Experts continue to point to new mortgage regulations that include a “stress test” as having a major impact on market activity.
“The stress-test that came into effect this year for homebuyers with more than twenty percent down payment continued to cast its shadow over sales activity in April,” said CREA President Barb Sakkau.
According to the CREA, activity was below year-ago levels in about 60% of all markets, which was "overwhelmingly" led by B.C.'s lower mainland and markets in and around Ontario's Greater Golden Horseshoe region.
Canada has also experienced an 11.3% decrease in the average sale price year over year in April with the average home selling for $495,000.
However, that average home price does not reflect the housing market in B.C. where average home price is just above $1 million in Greater Vancouver, $780,736 in the Fraser Valley and $703,592 in Victoria.
In comparison, the average home price in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Saint John, Saguenay in Quebec, and the Windsor-Essex markets hovered between $200,000 and $300,000 in April.
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