Canadian housing sales will be flat in 2011, with average prices rising three per cent to $350,000 by the end of next year, the real estate agency Re/Max predicted Tuesday.

Re/Max predicts British Columbia will lead the country in sales increases in 2011. (CBC)

In its outlook for 26 major centres, the company predicted sales will total 441,000, unchanged from 2010.

Re/Max says markets in British Columbia will lead the country in terms of percentage increases in sales in 2011, with Greater Vancouver expected to climb 10 per cent, followed by Victoria at eight per cent and Kelowna at six per cent.

It projected that sales in Windsor, Ont., would rise five per cent.

The sales total for 2010 of 441,100 represented a five per cent decline from the 465,251 in 2009.

The average national price over 2010, it said, was $340,000, up seven per cent from $320,333 in 2009. The size of the increase varied from one to 15 per cent, depending on the centre.

Kitchener-Waterloo, Quebec City, and St. John's saw the greatest increases in average price.

The only centres to see more sales in 2010 were Hamilton-Burlington, Sudbury, Windsor, Moncton and Prince Edward Island.

"The past decade was truly unprecedented: never before have we experienced a run-up that was as strong or lasted as long," Re/Max executive vice president Michael Polzler said in a release.

"As we have digressed from the typical pattern, people have forgotten what the usual healthy cycle looks like, but all the hallmarks are there.

"Ample inventory levels, steady demand, and moderate growth, both in terms of sales and prices, will characterize the market in 2011."