Resales fell in half of all major Canadian markets in July while listings rose slightly.
The numbers disappointed analysts who had expected the real estate market to post another strong showing in the wake of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cut last month.
The drop was led by a dip in sales in Regina as well as communities outside Toronto, including Burlington, Hamilton, Durham region.
The Canadian Real Estate Association attributes that to a shortage of new listings.
Despite the 0.4% monthly decline, sales activity was 3.4% higher than July 2014 – the second best July since 2009.
Meanwhile, Toronto and Vancouver helped push the national average resale price up nearly 6% from a year ago to $499,800.
In the Toronto area they were up more than 9%, which prompted Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp to warn the market was becoming overheated, raising the risk of a correction.