OTTAWA -- Canadian home sales in September were down from August as some of the country's hottest real estate markets saw sales cool.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday that home sales in September through its Multiple Listing Service were down 2.1 per cent compared with August.
The number of sales fell in more than half of the local markets tracked in September, led by Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
Sales in Vancouver were down 3.8 per cent for the month, while Toronto slipped 3.5 per cent. Calgary dropped 7.5 per cent.
Compared with a year ago, September sales for the country were up 0.7 per cent.
BMO senior economist Sal Guatieri said the Canadian housing market is cooling somewhat, however prices were "frothy" in the Vancouver and Toronto markets.
The national average price for a home sold in September was $433,649, up 6.1 per cent from the same month a year ago.
Excluding the Vancouver and Toronto markets, the average was $334,705, up 2.9 per cent from September last year.
"The story for the Greater Vancouver area and Greater Toronto area is that continued strong demand for a limited supply of detached properties is sending prices through the roof, as international migrants, young millennials and an apparent influx of foreign wealth flock to these two areas," Guatieri said.
"The latter could get a significant boost if China further eases foreign investment restrictions on individuals, as proposed later this year in the Qualified Domestic Individual Investor program."
The number of newly listed homes slipped 2.1 per cent from August to September, while the national sales-to-new listings ratio was 56.8 per cent in September.
CREA says a sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 per cent is generally consistent with a balanced market.
The number of months of inventory of homes for sale was 5.7 months at the end of September, up slightly from the 5.6 months where it has been for the previous four months.
