Toronto home sales post steepest decline since February on economic uncertainty

Greater Toronto Area home sales fell by the most in seven months in September as economic uncertainty held back buyers, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board data showed on Tuesday.

* Seasonally adjusted sales decreased 5.2% last month from August to 5,174 units, marking the second straight month of decline and the steepest drop since February.

* The board's home price index was down 0.5% month-over-month, after seasonal adjustment, to C$924,600 ($648,296).


* The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) includes Canada's most populous city and four surrounding regional municipalities.

* "We know there is substantial pent-up demand in the GTA, with many households fully intending on purchasing a home in the months ahead," the board's chief information officer, Jason Mercer, said in a statement.

* "These would-be homebuyers want to take advantage of today's more affordable housing market, but they need to be confident that their employment situation will remain solid and inflation will not put pressure on borrowing costs over the long term," Mercer said.

* Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem has said that policymakers were prepared to raise borrowing costs multiple times if inflation remained too high.

* On a year-over-year basis, home sales fell 9%, while new listings declined 14.4% and the price index was down 4.7%.