Home resales inch lower in December

OTTAWA — Sales of existing Canadian homes edged down 0.9% in December 2019, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association, ending a streak of monthly gains that began last March. Activity is currently about 18% above the six-year low reached in February 2019, but ends the year about 7% below the heights recorded in 2016 and 2017. There was an almost even split between the number of local markets where activity rose and those where it declined, with higher sales in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, Calgary and Montreal offsetting declines in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 22.7% compared to a quiet month of December in 2018.