The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Canada's national real estate association has slashed its sales forecast for the year after slower-than-expected activity in the spring. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai writes that sales are now expected to increase by 6.1 per cent to 472,395 transactions from 2023 to 2024, according to the July forecast from the Canadian Real Estate Association, or CREA. That is less than the association's April prediction that annual sales would climb 10.5 per cent when it looked like the market was starting to heat up after months of weak activity. Now with more homeowners putting their properties up for sale, CREA said the number of listings has built up more than expected. Even though that means more choice for buyers, they have "remained on the sidelines," CREA said. New listings have been on the rise since December, with numbers climbing another 1.5 per cent from May to June after removing seasonal influences. That pushed up the number of active listings by 0.05 per cent over the same month. TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi speculated that perhaps homeowners were trying to list their properties in June -- and close -- before the higher capital-gains tax took effect June 25.