OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian home sales fell 0.7% in October from September, edging back from the previous month's all-time record, while the national average selling price hit another record high, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Monday.
The average home price in Canada hit C$607,250 ($463,939), up 0.5% on the month and 15.2% on the year, the industry group said. Actual sales, not seasonally adjusted, rose 32.1% from a year earlier
"Many Canadian housing markets continue to see historically strong levels of activity ... over and above what would have been required to make up for the very quiet spring market,” said Costa Poulopoulos, chair of CREA, in a statement.
Sales activity was mixed across Canada's major markets, with sales up in Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton, but down in the Toronto area, the Vancouver area and in Ottawa.
Some 461,818 homes have traded hands across Canada so far this year, up 8.6% from the first 10 months of 2019, CREA said. It is the second highest year-to-date sales volume on record.
CREA's Home Price Index was up 10.9% from October last year and up 1% from September.
