Worst January for home sales since 2009, CREA says

The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales in January were the lowest for the month since 2009 and fell 37.1 per cent compared with a year ago.

The drop came as January sales were also down on a month-over-month basis as they dropped three per cent compared with December.

CREA says the move lower to start the year gave back the small gains made in December.

Home sales tumbled last year as rising mortgage rates increased the cost of borrowing for Canadians and slowed the housing market.

CREA says the number of newly listed homes was up 3.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis in January.

The actual national average home price was $612,204 in January, down 18.3 per cent from January 2022.