Sales and prices of existing homes in Canada in August rose from a year ago, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on on Tuesday.

The industry group said a total of 42,483 homes changed hands in August, up 18.5 percent from the same month last year.

CREA said the national average price in August rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier to C$324,779 ($300,721).

New residential listings were down 8.9 percent year-over-year to 64,167 units, the lowest level for the month of August in five years.

($1=$1.08 Canadian)

(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Canada