OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association is lowering its national home sales forecast for this year due to weaker sales in B.C. and Ontario.
The industry association says it now expects home sales this year to fall 11 per compared with a year ago to 459,900 units this year.
The prediction compared with a forecast for a 7.1 per cent decline the association released in March.
The updated forecast came as CREA reported actual home sales in May hit a seven-year low as they fell 16.2 per cent compared with a year ago.
The national average price for homes sold in May was just over $496,000, down 6.4 per cent from a year ago.
Excluding the Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver areas, the average price was just over $391,100, down two per cent.