Home Resales North of the Border Rebound

Canadian existing-home sales rose for the first time in four months in January on gains in Toronto and Vancouver, a Realtor group said.

Sales rose 1.3% to 35,878 units from December, the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a recent statement from Ottawa. Toronto sales gained 5.6% to 7,011 units and in Vancouver they increased 4.7% to 1,998 homes.

The economy is at risk from a long period of rising consumer debt and low interest rates even with signs housing has moderated, Bank of Canada Deputy Gov. Timothy Lane said in a Feb. 11 speech. The central bank kept its key rate at 1% last month, where it has been since September 2010, and said the case for an increase is “less imminent” as it forecast housing would weigh on economic growth through 2014.

Sales fell 5.2% in January from a year earlier and the average price rose 2% to C$354,754 ($352,358), according to the report.