Last month, 16,343 Canadian houses changed hands, a drop of 41 per cent from January, 2008, according to a report yesterday from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The average price fell 11 per cent from the year before to $273,607.
Of the country's 25 major markets, all but Winnipeg reported a year-over-year drop in sales, and all but four experienced declines greater than 20 per cent. Vancouver saw a 59-per-cent drop; Calgary was down 49 per cent.
Housing prices fell in 13 of those markets, dropping most in Victoria (down 14.7 per cent) and Trois-Rivières (14.9 per cent) while other major centres also saw serious declines (Toronto was down 8.2 per cent, Vancouver 8.8, Calgary 11.4).
