March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian existing home sales rose in February for the first time since September, a national realtors’ group said, as buyers took advantage of lower mortgage rates and prices.

Sales of existing homes listed on the Canadian Real Estate Association’s Multiple Listing Service rose 8.6 percent from January to 28,669 units in February, the Ottawa-based group said today in an e-mailed statement. The average resale price fell 9.2 percent from a year earlier to C$280,343 ($220,699).

“The report does offer some hope that the decline in Canadian home prices may have stabilized somewhat in February,” Millan Mulraine, an economist with TD Securities in Toronto, said in a note to clients. “The increase in sales is certainly a welcome development.”

The Bank of Canada’s January Monetary Policy Report predicted housing will cut 1 percentage point from growth this year. The central bank has lowered its benchmark interest rate 2.5 percentage points since October to a record 0.5 percent, while the average five-year mortgage rate has fallen to 5.79 percent from 7.2 percent in October.

“This year there are the benefits from historically low mortgage rates and improved affordability in most markets,” Calvin Lindberg, the group’s president, said in the statement.

Listings of homes for sale rose 1.6 percent from January to 70,797 units, the realtor group also said. From February 2008, sales were 27 percent lower and listings fell 5.3 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alexandre Deslongchamps in Ottawa at adeslongcham@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2009 13:08 EDT