New numbers for home sales in March across the country paint a bleak picture for Canadians looking to sell their house.

The number of homes sold across Canada in March plunged 22.7% from the same month last year, a stat that is mirrored by a 24% drop in Okanagan home sales over March of 2017.

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the 22.7% drop in national home sales marked a four-year low for the month of March.

Photo Credit: Canadian Real Estate Association.

Real estate experts agree the tighter mortgage lending rules, which make it harder for home buyers to qualify for uninsured mortgages, has limited the number of qualified buyers in the market.

“Given their limited supply, the shift of demand into lower price segments is causing those sale prices to climb,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist of the CREA in a statement.

“As a result, ‘affordably priced’ homes are becoming less affordable while mortgage financing for higher priced homes remains out of reach of many aspiring move-up home buyers.”

That much is true for potential home buyers in B.C. as well where the new mortgage rules have quickly “curbed” the market.

"You simply cannot pull as much as 20% of the purchasing power away from conventional mortgage borrowers and not create a downturn in consumer demand," said Cameron Muir of B.C. Real Estate Assosiation.

The national average price for all types of residential property has dropped to $491,000, which is substantially lower than the average price of $521,192 for a residential property in the Okanagan.

Photo Credit: NowMedia.

The average price of a home in the Okanagan for March was 10% higher than the same month in 2017 and 2% higher than last month in February.

CREA says activity was below year-ago levels in more than 80% of all local markets, with the vast majority of year-over-year declines well into double digits.