Canadian home sales nosedive in March

OTTAWA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of sold Canadian homes in March nosedived 23 percent from the same month last year amid double-digit plunges in most housing markets across the country, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Friday.

The association said the level of sales activity marked a four-year low for the month of March and was 7 percent below the 10-year average. Still, national home sales were up from the previous month by 1.3 percent.

It attributed the drop in home sales to several government policy measures, which were meant to cool the country's hot housing market. In March 2017, national home sales activity had reached an all-time record for that month.

Apartment units posted the largest year-on-year price gains in March, jumping 17.8 percent, followed by townhouse/row units up 9.4 percent. One-storey single family homes saw price gains in March of just 1.3 percent, and two-storey single family home prices were down 2 percent from a year ago.

As of Jan. 1, homebuyers with a down payment larger than 20 percent seeking a mortgage from a federally regulated lender are now subject to a financial stress test.

The new policy reduces the maximum amount buyers will be able to borrow to buy a home. An existing stress test already requires those with insured mortgages to qualify at the Bank of Canada benchmark five-year mortgage rule.

In turn, home sales activity was pulled forward to the end of 2017 as home buyers tried to lock in a mortgage before the new rules took effect.

Sales in the first quarter slid to their lowest quarterly level since the first three months of 2014.

Overall, the national average price for all types of residential property slipped to about 491,000 Canadian dollars (about 400,000 U.S. dollars), down 10.4 percent from March of last year -- with the Vancouver and Toronto markets causing most of the fall. Enditem