"The boom in the housing markets is definitely over," Tsur Somerville, a professor in the Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia said in an interview with The Star. "Depending on where you live, you can likely expect prices to fall further."

Canadian housing prices are decelerating quickly with the steepest decline in more than a decade, The Star reported. Analysts say homeowners in some regions should prepare for further depreciation. The average price of a residential home was $316,052 in August, a year over year drop of 5.1 per cent and the most since 1996. These figures were released by the Canadian Real Estate Association. Millan Mulraine, economics strategist for TD Securities said:

"The report underscores the current shift in the Canadian housing market, as the tone of activity moves slightly closer to a buyer's market"

In August, the city of Toronto also recorded a slight 1 per cent decrease in housing prices – the first negative number in more than a decade, The Star article reads.

July’s new home sales were only slightly changed from June’s, as actual sales (3,135) equate to 40,400 after seasonal-adjustment, up from 39,000 in June. Low-rise sales dropped sharply, with 850 actual sales equal to 11,300 seasonally-adjusted. Will Dunning explains:

"A variety of factors explain this, including reduced supply of new product, but also a sharply expanded resale inventory and uncertainty about the economy."

Resale market activity has exceeded 80,000 for four consecutive months and is now similar to levels seen in 2005 and 2006, the Dunning report concludes.

The Greater Toronto resale housing market closed out the last full month of summer at a steady pace, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill said in a press release. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) average price increased one per cent, to $364,886 when compared to last August’s figure of $361,890. Compared to the $338,192 figure recorded two years ago though, the average GTA has increased eight per cent. Ms O’Neill is happy to see these figures:

“These healthy figures substantiate that when undertaken as a long term investment, buying a home is one of the smartest financial moves you can make.”

With 6,318 transactions recorded last month, sales in the GTA declined 22 per cent compared to the record August 2007 figure of 8,059.

Despite August’s moderate sales, the 57,364 transactions that have occurred this year are within 14 per cent of the 67,146 figure recorded a year ago, Ms. O’Neill concluded.

You can read the whole press release and more detailed stats by clicking here.