Housing sales so far this year have eclipsed last year's levels in 11 of the country's 19 largest real estate markets, Re/Max says. (CBC)

Canada's real estate market is showing signs of improvement after slowing noticeably over the summer months — but is a long way from the highs of late 2009, according to Re/Max.

According to Tuesday's market trends report from Re/Max, sales activity so far this year has eclipsed last year's level in 11 of the country's 19 largest real estate markets.

"The outlook for the residential housing market has vastly improved over the past three months. Yet, markets are expected to record softer sales activity in the final quarter of the year, in comparison to the same period in 2009," says the report from Re/Max, the country's largest real estate firm.

On average, prices have been moving lower since peaking earlier in the spring, but over a longer time frame, prices are up across the board, with five areas reporting double-digit gains since the start of the year.

By far the strongest area of activity was sales of luxury homes, Re/Max said.

All markets reported a surge of 20 per cent or more in upper-end home sales. Sixty-eight per cent of markets saw upscale home sales climb in excess of 40 per cent, while 21 per cent boasted triple-digit gains.

"If anything demonstrates the underlying health of the national housing picture, it’s the surge in sales of luxury properties this year," said Michael Polzler, Re/Max's executive vice-president for Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

"We know from experience that this segment of the market is usually the first to show pressure cracks when a market is softening [and] that has certainly not been the case this year, even during the summer slowdown."