![\"canadian-home-sales\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/canadian-home-sales.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\n Canadian home sales took a spill a month after Ontario\u2019s government announced a slew of measures meant to cool supercharged real estate markets in and around the Greater Toronto Area.<\/p>\n The number of existing homes changing hands throughout the country declined 6.2 per cent in May compared to April, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association\u2019s latest market data.<\/p>\n In the Greater Toronto Area, by far the country\u2019s biggest market, transactions tumbled by 25.3 per cent over that same period denting national figures.<\/p>\n Gregory Klump, CREA\u2019s chief economist, ties the drop directly to Ontario\u2019s Fair Housing Plan, which the Ontario Grits unveiled on April 20th.<\/p>\n \u201c[The data] provide clear evidence that the changes have resulted in more balanced housing markets throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe region,\u201d says Gregory Klump in a statement.<\/p>\n Ontario\u2019s plan is a sweeping 16-measure policy move containing, among other things, expanded rent control throughout the province and a foreign-homebuyer tax for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, a region that includes the GTA, Hamilton and a number of other smaller markets.<\/p>\n \u201cFor housing markets in the region, May sales activity was down most in the GTA and Oakville. This suggests the changes have squelched speculative home purchases,\u201d Klump continues.<\/p>\n CREA suggests the GTA was nearly in buyers-market territory last month. The GTA\u2019s sales-to-new listings ratio was at 41 per cent in May, and ratios below 40 per cent are suggestive of a buyer\u2019s market.<\/p>\n