On Monday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released new numbers concerning the country’s housing market. The numbers show a decline of nearly 13 % in December 2022 compared to 2021 in the same month.
Additionally, the new numbers show that before the Bank of Canada started raising lending rates, the number of homes sold and their prices were significantly lower in December than in December 2021. The decline occurred after its peak in February, with the HPI (Housing Price Index) declining by 13%. Most likely, the pressure will go on because of the continued increase in interest rates.
Ontario and British Columbia saw the most declines, whereas the declines were smaller in other areas.
Royal LePage’s latest national housing report showed the following data.
The average home price in the Greater Toronto Area was $1,068,500, declining by 4.6%. Meanwhile, the average price in the Greater Vancouver Area was $1,208,900, and the prices went down to 3.5%.
Modest price growth was seen in some markets, such as Montreal and Calgary, in Q4.
Single-family homes saw price declines of 3.7 %, and condo prices were down 1.4 % annually.
After Feb 2022, rising interest rates from the Bank of Canada have resulted in declines in housing markets across the country.
Phil Sopher, Royal LePage CEO, said,
“It may be headline-grabbing to say that prices are down by double digits.”
He said less than one percent of property owners completed their purchases in February or March last year. He added that the pandemic-driven urgency to buy fueled the final price spike and severe housing supply shortages.
Sopher expects house prices to pick up when the interest rates are stable. He added that buyers would return to the market, and the demand for housing would continue from Canada’s growing population. The shortage of homes will eventually house prices will pick up.
