Home sales fall in January, partly due to shortage of listings, CREA says

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A real estate sold sign is shown outside a house in Vancouver, Tuesday, Jan.3, 2017. The Canadian Real Estate Association says there was a 1.3 per cent decline in home sales between December and January, in part because of a shortage of listings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says there was a 1.3 per cent decline in home sales between December and January, in part because of a shortage of listings.

It says the number of newly listed homes dropped 6.7 per cent in January — the second monthly decline — and the inventory of homes for sale was at a six-year low in both January and December.

CREA says the number of transactions was down in about half of all local markets from month to month, with the biggest declines in the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal areas.

Still, January sales were up year-over-year in about two-thirds of all housing markets.

The MLS home price index — which adjusts for sales of different types of housing — was up 15 per cent from January 2016.

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