National home sales dipped 2.9 per cent month over month in April, according to statistics released last week by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Fraser Valley, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal were among the 60 per cent of local housing markets that saw lower sales volumes last month.

CREA also reported that actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity was the lowest it has been in seven years for the month of April, which posted a 13.9-per-cent decline year over year. B.C.’s Lower Mainland and Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe region were represented among the 60 per cent of local markets that saw year-over-year declines in sales activity.

“The stress test that came into effect this year for home buyers with more than a 20 per cent down payment continued to cast its shadow over sales activity in April,” Barb Sukkau, president of CREA, said in a news release.

The national sales-to-new listings ratio inched up month over month to 53.7 per cent as slower sales more than offset a 4.8-per-cent dip in new home listings from March to their lowest April level in nine years.

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) climbed 1.5 per cent year over year in April as the price of one and two-storey homes decreased by 1.1 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively, and the price of townhouse/row units and apartment units increased by 6.5 per cent and 14.7 per cent, respectively.

The national average home sale price, meanwhile, slid to slightly more than $495,000 in April, representing a year-over-year decline of 11.3 per cent. This decline shrinks to 4.1 per cent for an average home sale price of slightly less than $386,100 when the Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver markets are left out of the equation.