He noted that prices have gone up substantially over the past year and predicted they will soften because of the weaker demand.
"Old Man Winter likely put a serious chill into January home sales, but underlying activity looks to be simmering down in any event," Porter told GuelphMercury.com. "Despite the gaudy price increases in January, we suspect that pricing power will eventually follow the sales lead."
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) noted that sales through the Multiple Listings Service (MLS) were trending downward in more than 60 per cent of all local markets across the nation, including Toronto and Vancouver, Canada's two largest housing markets.
Alternatively, the number of newly-listed homes increased by 0.2 per cent on a month-over-month basis in January.
