4 January 2019

However, Vancouver sales kept decreasing later, even when Toronto market began to rebound, as the British Columbia introduced more measures to fight speculation.

Last month, Toronto sales were down by 23% to 3,781 from the previous year, but this decline could be exaggerated by buyers rushing to make the deal before the new rules took effect. Vancouver faced the weakest December for sales in 10 years, dropping by 47% to 1,072 transactions.

Another factor causing this drop was the number of new listings falling by 13% annually and by 32% in December.

The benchmark price, measuring the cost of a typical home, went up by 3% from a year ago and reached $764,200 in December. The largest increase by 9% was reported in the condo sector, while the price of a detached home remained almost unchanged at $907,900. Vancouver saw a 2.7% annual price decline to $1.03 million last month.