OTTAWA—Home sales in June posted their largest monthly drop in seven years, driven by a plunge in the Greater Toronto market, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday, the latest evidence that a cool-down in the housing sector is taking hold.Transactions last month were down 6.7 per cent compared with May on a national basis, the third consecutive monthly decline, with the Greater Toronto Area registering a 15.1 per cent drop.Home sales are down 14.1 per cent from the record level set in March.Read more:Interest rate hike could prolong Toronto real estate market slowdownRate hike looms over cooling housing marketBank of Canada hikes interest rate for first time in 7 years“Changes to Ontario housing policy made in late April have clearly prompted many homebuyers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region to take a step back and assess how the housing market absorbs the changes,” CREA chief economist Gregory Klump said in a statement.“The recent increase in interest rates could reinforce a lack of urgency to purchase or, alternatively, move some buyers off the sidelines before their pre-approved mortgage rate expires. In the meantime, some move-up buyers who previously purchased a home before first selling may become more motivated to reduce their asking price rather than carry two mortgages.”Sales were down from the previous month in 70 per cent of all local markets measured by CREA, including the Lower Mainland in B.C., Montreal and Quebec City.The Ontario government moved earlier this year to cool the Toronto real estate market, bringing in more than a dozen measures including a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers. Since then, sales in Canada’s largest city have slowed.Separately, mortgage interest rates have started to rise in recent days. That came after the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate last week by 25 basis points to 0.75 per cent, a move that prompted the big banks to increase their prime rates. Rat ...
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