Canadian home resales

By Alexandre Deslongchamps

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian home resales fell 1.5 percent to 42,799 units in February, the second straight decline, the Canadian Real Estate Association said today.

The drop was most pronounced in Vancouver and the group said the Olympic Games may have had an effect on sales, according to a statement posted on its Web site. The average resale price rose 18 percent from a year ago to C$335,655 ($329,330), CREA also said.

“Housing markets are becoming more balanced,” CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump said in the release. “Further expected supply increases will continue to take the steam out of housing markets as the year progresses.”

Canada’s mortgage rates are close to the lowest since the Korean War, spurring home sales and prices as the country emerges from a recession. Housing starts rose to the highest since October 2008 in February, and the government-owned Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicted on March 2 housing starts will rise this year and next.

The total number of homes for sale fell 15 percent from a year ago to 188,334 units in February, even after 73,849 units were put on the market last month -- the most since October 2008. There were enough homes on the market in February to cover sales for 4.7 months, up from January’s 4.5 months.

--Editors: Paul Badertscher, Andrew Barden

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexandre Deslongchamps in Ottawa at adeslongcham@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net; David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net.