OPINION: With June’s rise, the Composite Index just recovered the ground lost during H2 2017 (left
chart). Does this mean that the Canadian home resale market is about to enter into a
new frenzy? No. June’s rise in the index, impressive at first sight, was in fact weak for
this time of the year. Indeed, if the Index were purged from seasonal patterns, it would
have been about flat over the last three months (right chart). This means that apart from
seasonal patterns, the index merely stabilized lately. That being said, stabilization at a
high level might hide different price trends for different types of dwellings. Condo prices
have risen at a fast clip since the beginning of the year in Toronto and Vancouver (after
seasonal adjustment, 7.8% and 16.3% annualized respectively), while prices for other types
of dwellings held their ground. The resiliency of prices for the latter category of dwellings
is indeed reassuring in view of higher interest rates and stricter mortgage qualification
rules (B20) that dampen demand for the most expensive categories of dwellings.
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