Home prices trended lower in the second half of last year
Canadian home prices slipped back in the second half of 2018
Steve Randall
REP
Canadian home prices slipped back in the second half of 2018 according to a leading measure of pricing trends.
The Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index was down 0.3% in December compared to the previous month, continuing a trend of most metropolitan markets in recent months.
For Calgary, December marked a sixth straight month without an index rise, and a cumulative decline of 2.0%; for Vancouver a fifth straight month and a cumulative loss of 2.9%; for Edmonton a fourth straight month and a cumulative loss of 2.7%.
In the fourth quarter, only Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau posted price gains.
The summary of the latest index data highlights the impact of higher mortgage rates and tougher qualification criteria; and calls for a soft landing for Canada’s resale market.
December by market Across the metro areas surveyed, there was widespread price decline in December with 7 of the 11 negative.
Edmonton (−1.4%), Vancouver (−1.2%), Winnipeg (−0.9%), Calgary (−0.6%), Victoria (−0.4%), Hamilton (−0.4%) and Quebec City (−0.4%). Indexes were up for Ottawa-Gatineau (1.0%), Montreal (0.4%), Toronto (0.2%) and Halifax (0.1%) all saw lower price indexes compared to the previous month.
Looking at the 6-month picture, there was year-over-year decline for Calgary (−2.6%), Edmonton (−0.9%), Winnipeg (−0.5%), and Quebec City (−0.1%); Halifax was flat; and there were gains for Victoria (6.0%), Ottawa-Gatineau (5.9%) Montreal (4.4%), Hamilton (4.4%), Toronto (3.7%) and Vancouver (1.4%).
The 12-month advance of the composite index, at 2.5%, was the smallest since 2009.
The index is calculated from a base value of 100 in June 2005.
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