The number of transactions in May was a significant drop compared with a year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading rapidly through the country, but the association expects sales to edge toward more typical levels through the latter half of 2021 and into 2022. The association is predicting 2021 will see transactions rise 23.8 per cent from last year to reach a record-setting 682,900, then fall by 13 per cent to around 594,000 units in 2022. CREA chair Cliff Stevenson attributed the slowing sales numbers to higher prices, a lack of supply and a general malaise spreading in many markets. "More and more, there is anecdotal evidence of offer fatigue and frustration among buyers, and the urgency to lock down a place to ride out COVID would also be expected to fade," he said, in a release.