The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales across the country Canada fell in March, while prices were up 11.2 per cent compared with a year earlier.

Home sales in March were down 16.3 per cent compared with the same month last year when they hit an all-time record.

On a month-over-month basis, seasonally adjusted home sales in March were down 5.4 per cent.

The drop in sales came as the number of newly listed homes fell 5.5 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March.

The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate target by a quarter of a percentage point at the beginning of March and by an additional half of a percentage point last week.

Rates for five-year variable and fixed-rate mortgages have risen in recent weeks.

The actual national average home price was $796,068 in March, up from $715,696 in the same month last year.

The association says excluding Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area, two of the most active and expensive housing markets, cuts $163,000 from the national average price for March this year.