Average Canadian house worth $496,800 last month, down 1.5% in past year

Canadian home sales fell in October, as the number of transactions dropped in more than half of all local markets led by dips in Montreal, Edmonton and the Hamilton-Burlington, Ont., area.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says national home sales through its MLS system dropped by 1.6 per cent last month compared with September.

Compared with October 2017, sales last month were down 3.7 per cent as lower sales in the Vancouver region and the B.C. Fraser Valley more than offset gains in the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal.

The drop came as the average price for a home sold last month fell 1.5 per cent from October last year to $496,800.

New listings also down slightly

Excluding the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver area, two of the country's most expensive markets, the average price of a home sold was just under $383,000.

The number of new listings also dipped 1.1 per cent in October, led by declines in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary and Victoria.