Home sales throughout Canada have gotten off to their worst start to a year since 2009, with January sales falling 37% from a year ago, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Home sales in January totaled 20,931, down 3% from the previous month of December as higher interest rates continue to dampen the market across Canada.
The average price of a house in Canada during January was $612,204, an 18.3% decline from $749,437 during the same month of 2022, said CREA.
Canada’s housing market has cooled rapidly as the Bank of Canada has raised its key interest rate eight consecutive times since March 2022, driving mortgage rates higher in the process.
Following the most recent rate hike in January, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the central bank will now pause its interest rate increases and assess their impact on the economy.
With the average mortgage rate across Canada now above 6%, the housing market has declined dramatically in some parts of the country.
In Prince Edward Island, for example, the average home price fell 10% in January from the previous month of December.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported that January home sales in that city were more than halved from a year earlier and down 21% from December 2022.
