Sluggish sales have forced the Canada Real Estate Association to revise its housing forecast downward for the rest of this year and 2011. The Ottawa-based group, which represents about 100 boards across the country, now says 442,200 existing homes will be sold via the Multiple Listing Service in 2010. Back in February it was forecasting 527,300 sales. The forecast for 2011 calls for a further decline in sales, down to 402,500. CREA had previously forecast sales would reach 490,100 next year.
"I wouldn't characterize it as a big drop," said Gregory Klump, chief economist with CREA. Even with the revised forecast, sales for this year would only be off 4.9% from 2009.
Source: Garry Marr,
Financial Post · Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010
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