Canada home sales rise a fourth month in August, prices fall

Canada's housing market showed continued signs of stabilizing in August, with sales rising for a fourth straight month and prices easing.

The number of transactions rose 0.9% from July to 39,366 units, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday from Ottawa. Sales in Toronto, the nation's biggest city, advanced 2.2% and rose 2.9% in Vancouver.

Canada home sales
Homes under construction in Brampton, Ontario. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg

The housing market is recovering from steep sales declines early this year after the federal government imposed tougher mortgage lending rules and the central bank raised borrowing costs. Home sellers also seem to be lowering prices for homes, fueling demand.

Benchmark home prices fell by 0.6% on the month, the biggest decline since August 2017. That was driven by Vancouver, where prices dropped 1.4%, the biggest one-month fall since 2008. Toronto home prices were down 0.3% in August.

"Improving national home sales activity in recent months continues to obscure significant differences in regional trends for home sales and prices," Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist, said in the statement.

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