The Canadian Real Estate Association has lowered its sights on the number of resale home sales at the end of 2010 but it expects the average price should increase more than it forecast earlier.

It now forecast national home sales of 459,600 units this year, a 1.2 per cent decline rather than 5.5 per cent increase in sales for 2010 it previously forecast.

It also changed the average national resale home price forecast to $331,600, with increases in all the provinces rather than the previous 1.6 per cent increase for 2010.