OJO_Images via Getty Images For sale sign in yard of house

OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association says sales of existing homes rose by eight per cent last month compared to a year ago, while the national average home price soared 17 per cent. CREA says the national average home price was $470,297 in January, fuelled largely by price gains in greater Vancouver and greater Toronto. However, excluding the piping hot markets of Ontario and British Columbia, the average sale price actually edged lower by 0.3 per cent from a year ago to $286,911.

"Canada’s housing market continued to exhibit some radical regional differences in January, consistent with the underlying economic picture," BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic wrote. "Vancouver’s market is drum tight, with an almost unheard of 91 per cent sales-to-new listings ratio (in other words, almost every new listing is getting absorbed within the month as record sales meet average growth in new listings). "On the flip side, sales and prices continue to retrench in markets exposed to oil prices. Sales in Calgary are now down more than 40 per cent from their 2014 high, but prices have corrected a modest 3 per cent to date."