Canadians’ debt ratio dips but still near record high

The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that the national average price for homes sold in July fell compared with a year ago, the first year-over-year drop since February 2013.

The association says the average price for a home sold last month was $478,696, down 0.3% from July 2016, due to fewer sales in Toronto and Vancouver compared with last year.

Excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, the national average price was $381,297, up from $365,033 a year ago.

The drop in the national average price came as the number of homes sold through Canadian MLS systems fell for the fourth consecutive month, moving down 2.1% in July compared with June.

CREA says July sales were down from June in close to two-thirds of all markets, led by the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, Halifax-Dartmouth and Ottawa.

The move leaves sales down 15.3% from the record set in March.

Compared with a year ago, sales in July were down 11.9%.

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