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TORONTO — Sales of existing homes across the Greater Toronto Area dropped a whopping 20.3 per cent in May from a year ago, while the average home price in the region fell about six per cent from April, results based on the first full month of data following a major initiative by the Ontario government to cool Canada’s biggest housing market.

The Toronto Real Estate Board said Monday there were 10,196 sales through the Multiple Listing Service last month, down from 12,790 sales reported in May 2016. Detached home sales fell 26.3 per cent during the period and condominium apartment sales were off 6.4 per cent.

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The Toronto home market has not seen such substantial declines in both sales and prices since the recession of 2008.

“The actual, or normalized, effect of the Ontario Fair Housing Plan remains to be seen. In the past, some housing policy changes have initially led to an overreaction on the part of homeowners and buyers, which later balanced out,” said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis with TREB, in a statement.