Listings up, sales down, in first half of 2008

Canada's red-hot housing market cooled considerably in the first half of this year, with sales recorded by the Canadian Real Estate Association slumping by 13.1 per cent from the same period last year. The real estate group said yesterday that new listings of homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service jumped 9.1 per cent to 518,270 units in the first six months - a record high - while sale prices rose a tepid 3.6 per cent following the double-digit increases of the recent past. Unit sales were down in all provinces except Newfoundland, with British Columbia, Alberta and Prince Edward Island experiencing a fall-off in sales topping 20 per cent. The numbers are indicative of a housing market that is trending downward after several strong years, association president Calvin Lindberg said.

(Source: Globe & Mail)