Home sales fail to pick up in Toronto

Warmer weather is failing to heat up the Toronto area housing market, the fifth month of declining sales.

Existing home sales in May plunged 16 per cent to 9,411 sales, compared to 11,146 in 2007, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada said one-third of households in Toronto spent 30 per cent or more of their income on shelter in 2006 — the highest of all urban areas in Canada. In Ontario, 71 per cent of households own their homes.