Canadian home sales declined by three per cent on a month-over-month basis to start the year to post their worst January since 2009, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

CREA’s monthly housing statistics report, released Feb. 15, found actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly sales in January were down 37.1 per cent from the year before.

“Early 2023 feels a lot like 2019, where after a year in which it became much harder to qualify for a mortgage, everyone was wondering if the market would pick up in the spring,” Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist said in a release.