While the Composite Teranet-National Bank HPI dropped again in April, there are signs of stabilization. April’s decline in the Composite index is the smallest in months. The cumulative decline over this seven-month stretch is only 1.8%, a moderate loss compared to the 2008-2009 recession, and even compared to shorter sequences of drops that occurred since then (left chart). The moderation of the recent price decline at the national level is partly due to Toronto, where the index edged down only 0.2% over that seven-month period. The resilience of the home resale market in the largest urban area in Canada is due to the performance of the condo segment, where the index was up 2.1% over the period (right chart). Judging from the active-listings-to-sales ratio, market conditions on the condo market have been tight over the last three years, suggesting that the upward trend in condo prices in Toronto is unlikely to be interrupted in the near future.

May 2019