Prices of resale homes continued to climb in most major centres across Canada last month but a growing number of new listings could signal a slowdown, a real estate industry group said Thursday.

According to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average resale house price increased by 9.6 per cent to $301,516 between October 2006 and the same month last year.

The number of new listings jumped by 10 per cent to 47,744 last month from 43,419 at the same time a year ago.

"New listings continue to trend higher, which is giving buyers more choice and taking some of the steam out of many local housing markets," said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

He said a more balanced market will give buyers more negotiating power and time to make decisions.

"That trend is forecast to continue, and result in smaller price increases in 2007," he said.

The heated Calgary housing market led the country with an average price for resale homes of $374,067, up 47 per cent year-over-year.

That put the average resale price in Calgary ahead of Toronto, which had an average of $356,423.

However, Calgary also saw a 51 per cent jump in the number of new listings.

Prices were up by 41.8 per cent in Edmonton at $276,641, while new listings were up 27 per cent.

The most expensive resale homes continued to be found in Vancouver, where the average October price was $548,022, up more than 20 per cent from October 2005. New listings grew by almost 19 per cent.