23 October 2019

In other words, when a bearish firm is impressed by the results of Canada’s housing market, it’s certainly shows optimism.

Recently, Capital Economics’ chief North American economist Paul Ashworth pointed to the strength of the market after studying Teranet and National Bank’s monthly home price data.

Ottawa and Montreal reported the strongest activity, and Toronto showed the largest price growth this year. In addition to it, even Vancouver saw a price recovery last month.

Nationally, real estate prices were up by 0.1% from August to September. Although the number may sound small, Ashworth says if it’s seasonally adjusted, the September hike is the largest since January.

It’s also important to remember that housing markets have strong and weak seasons, that’s why only one month’s performance will not provide an entire picture of the market’s state.

Ashworth believes Canadian markets will keep showing strong activity into the first half of 2020 due to home sales recovery.

As we head into the New Year, we’ll get more detailed analyses for 2020. In case Ashworth’s unusual optimism is an indication, many other experts will also provide their forecasts for the next year.