TORONTO (CP) - Home buyers in Canada will shrug off stock market volatility caused by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and drive up both the number of homes sold and average resale prices across the country to record levels this year, the Canadian Real Estate Association predicted Monday. Powered by frenzied resale activity in the first six months of the year, overall national sales should rise 8.1 per cent in 2007 to just over 523,000 units, with records set in most provinces as well, the association said.
In addition, the average price of a home is expected to rise by about 10.4 per cent to just under $306,000, with oil-rich Alberta leading the way as prices in that province go up almost 25 per cent on top of last year’s eye-popping 31 per cent increase.
