Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty shrugged off housing worries in Canada Wednesday, saying there is no bubble and that the subprime-mortgage woes crippling financial institutions in the United States are not threatening banks north of the border, Financial Post reports.

"There is no bubble in the Canadian housing sector," he was quoted as saying. "That's not been our concern. Our concern has been a tendency for longer amortization periods, like 40 years, and for purchasers putting very little money down. We've seen nothing in Canada like the U.S. subprime situation."

Financial Post emphasises that the comments came a day after the Canadian Real Estate Association said the average June resale price for homes was down 0.4% from a year earlier, the first decline in almost 10 years.