Canadian home sales dropped in October to their lowest levels since July 2002, as buyers feared a global recession, according to statistics released Friday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Seasonally adjusted residential sales numbered 32,048 units in October 2008, the association said in a statement.

This was down 14 percent from sales levels recorded in September, and the largest month-over-month decline in sales activity since June 1994, it said.

`Many home buyers across Canada battened down the hatches in October as they were concerned with dire headlines about stock market volatility and a global economic downturn,` said the group`s chief economist, Gregory Klump.

The average house price meanwhile fell to 281,133 Canadian dollars, or 9.9 percent below where it stood a year earlier.

The association represents more than 98,000 real estate dealers in Canada.