Home sales activity posted the first year-over-year decrease in five quarters in the second quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, the supply of available housing increased, creating a more balanced market.

Sales activity was down from year-ago levels by 20 per cent to 6,339 units in the second quarter of 2010. This reflects declines of more than 15 per cent in the final two months of the quarter.

Sales activity in all major housing categories posted decreases from a year earlier. Single detached homes were down the most, falling 22 per cent from the second quarter of 2009.

The number of months of inventory rose in the second quarter across all major housing types, making the markets for single detached, townhouse and row and apartment units more balanced than they had been a year earlier.

Regardless of a more balanced market, homebuyers took less time to shop in the second quarter than they had a year earlier.

The median sale price for single detached homes was up eight per cent year-over-year to $415,000 in the second quarter of 2010. The median sale price for townhouse and row units increased five per cent year-over-year to $296,000, while the median sale price for apartment units was up five per cent year-over-year to $250,000 in the second quarter.