Canadian home prices lean toward stabilising

Home prices in Canada climbed 1.3 percent from April 2012 to April 2013, the smallest climb in more than two years, a trade group said. The Canadian Real Estate Association said, while home prices rose slightly more than the inflation rate to an average price of $380,588, the number of homes sold fell 3.1 percent from a year earlier. From a month prior, sales activity rose 0.6 percent, the trade group said, calling the housing market "firmly in balanced territory." "National sales activity is stable and the market remains balanced," said CREA President Laura Leyser. "That said, trends for sales and listings and for the balance between the two can be and often are very different between and within local housing markets," Leyser said in a statement. "The Easter holiday and an extra full weekend at the end of the month lowered March sales activity and the absence of these factors in April helped sales for the month," said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. Nationwide, the number of newly listed homes dropped 0.9 percent March to April with listings down in about half of Canada's local markets.