Canadian Home Sales Fall 2.3% in September as Higher Mortgage Rates Weigh
Canadian home sales extended their decline in September, falling 2.3 percent month over month after a 0.7 percent drop in August, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said in its monthly report on October 16. Sales were down 7.7 percent year over year without seasonal adjustment, the Home Price Index fell 0.4 percent on the month and 3.4 percent from a year ago, and newly listed properties fell 1.8 percent after an August rebound. The sales-to-new listings ratio slipped to 48.8 percent, below its long-term average of 54.7 percent.
"This was hardly surprising given the latest jump in fixed mortgage rates, and with the Bank of Canada now widely expected to follow with a rate hike before the end of the year," said CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart.
The Bank of Canada is not expected to raise rates at its October 28 decision, but money markets are pricing in a 25-basis-point hike in December. Governor Tiff Macklem has warned that the longer elevated energy prices persist, the harder it becomes not to raise rates. (GSM, based on Reuters reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 渥太华议会山庄。Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Photo by Saffron Blaze, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
