One should not rejoice about the first rise in home prices in seven months as May is
historically the second strongest month of the year. In effect, the 0.5% increase
represents the weakest performance on record for a month of May. As a result, the
annual increase moderated to 0.7%, the lowest since the recession (see left chart). While
a combination of stress testing measures, foreign buyer’s taxes and earlier increases in
mortgage rates have contributed to the slowdown, recent data shows that the Canadian
housing market is stabilizing. Home sales increased for a third month in a row in May,
rebounding close to their past ten year average, a development which was made possible
thanks to a booming labour market and a plunge in mortgage rates. In Toronto, both
condos and other dwellings prices showed pullbacks in May but resale market conditions
(see right chart) are not suggestive of a significant deterioration in the coming months
especially since the GTA created a whopping 92K jobs so far this year. The Vancouver
market showed the weakest performance on an annual basis among covered markets (-
4.1%, y/y) but its job market is also firing on all cylinders in 2019 a development that
could have contributed to the strong rebound in resales observed in May (+24%).