2 April 2018

“The most active markets of Toronto and Vancouver are driven by the influence of millennial home buyers, who push prices higher in the condo and townhouse sectors. In addition to it, these regions are also supported by strong economies, good demographic conditions and a lot of high salary jobs,”- BMO says.

“In our opinion, millennials will also lead to higher prices in Montreal and Ottawa, as buyers who search for more affordable properties also switch from Toronto and Vancouver to other cities,”- Guatieri added.

In case of a national level, record low unemployment rate and the highest population growth in a quarter century also drive home prices higher.

BMO says although interest rates remain extremely low, we may see more rate increases this year.

“The rates may go up by another 0.5% in 2018,” – Guatieri said. “And even such modest hikes will affect the affordability negatively in those markets which weren’t influenced that much by stricter mortgage rules and other cooling changes.”