OTTAWA - The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales through its Multiple Listings Service in September fell 1.4 per cent on a month-over-month basis, the first monthly decline since January.
The association says sales were down in about 60 per cent of all local housing markets last month.
CREA president Beth Crosbie says affordably priced single family homes are in short supply in some of the hottest markets and that contributed to the monthly decline.
The number of newly listed homes fell by 1.6 per cent in September compared with August.
Compared with a year ago sales were up 10.6 per cent, while the average price for a home sold last month was $408,795, up 5.9 per cent compared with a year ago.
However, excluding the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto markets, the average price was $325,406, up 4.5 per cent from September 2013.