The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) recently announced that national home sales decreased on a month-over-month basis in December 2014. According to the trade association, home sales fell 5.8 per cent from November to December, but rose 7.9 per cent from the same period in 2013.

“December sales were down from the previous month in a number of Canada’s largest and most active housing markets, indicating a broadly based cooling off for Canadian home sales as 2014 came to an end,” says Gregory Klump, Chief Economist for CREA. “Even so, sales remain above year-ago levels in many of the same markets.”

As a result of sales statistics from Canada’s hottest housing markets, the average national home price rose 3.8 per cent, year-over-year, in December. The greatest annual price gains were seen in Calgary (8.80 per cent), Greater Toronto (7.89 per cent), and Greater Vancouver (5.82 per cent). In December 2014, the average price of a Canadian home was $405,233.

When statistics from Toronto and Vancouver are removed from the equation, the average sale price represents a more modest year-over-year increase in December 2014. Excluding these regions, the average sits at $319,481, a 1.9 per cent rise over December 2013.