16 May 2019

Housing prices remained almost unchanged with only less than a 1% annual gain. The national average home price remains at $495,000. In case we exclude Toronto and Vancouver from calculations, the number will go down to $391,000.

The MLS Home Price Index, which investigates 18 markets and provides a more accurate picture of market tendencies, shows that benchmark prices also remain stable.

The activity in Ontario is stronger than in case of British Columbia, as benchmark prices in Vancouver fell by 8.5% annually, in the Fraser Valley – by 4.5%, and Victoria showed a less than 1% increase. At the same time, Toronto was up by more than 3%, the Niagara Region – by 6%, and Ottawa – by almost 8%.

In Klump’s opinion, the reason for British Columbia’s drop is a combination of poor housing affordability and stricter access to financing due to the mortgage stress test and new housing measures, introduced by British Columbia’s provincial government.”

The Prairies kept struggling with excessive inventory and low oil prices, which caused a benchmark prices decline by 4.5% in Calgary, by 4% in Edmonton and by 4.5% in Regina.

“Real estate market tendencies are improving in some places, while other areas keep struggling”, – noted Jason Stephen, CREA’s President. “It all depends on the location”.