It should come as no surprise to anyone that real estate in general is feeling the effects of a struggling national economy. Statistics released January 15 by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows that on a nation-wide basis housing sales were down 17.4 percent in December 2012 as compared to the year before. Last month 20,538 homes sold in Canada, down from the 24,850 homes sold during December 2011. Overall however the numbers were not as dramatic. Year-end stats show that 453,372 homes were sold during 2012 in Canada through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system – down a mere 1.1 percent from the 2011 totals.

Sale prices last month did not follow the declining trend. The national average home price in December of $352,800 was actually up 1.6 percent from a year earlier. When the higher end markets of Toronto and Calgary are excluded from the calculations the average sale price of a home sold in Canada last month was up 3.3 percent. Fewer properties however are being placed on the Canadian housing market. Comparing December 2012 to December 2011 - 1.3 percent fewer homes were placed on the MLS® system across Canada.