News and Press Releases

The last two monthly gains in the national HPI might seem moderate, but they are in fact larger than usual for this time of the year when resale activity is typically low. For instance, the 0.2% increase in December compares to an average of 0.1% for this month over the last 11 years. Indeed, after seasonal adjustment, the national HPI ended the year with a 5-month string of gains, including a strong 0.7% rise in December. This is quite a turnaround from the weakness experienced in the first half of 2019. Indexes for Toronto, Hamilton and more recently Vancouver, Victoria and Quebec City contributed to this trend reversal, while indexes for Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Halifax performed well throughout the year. Only the indexes of the largest metropolitan areas in the Prairies, namely Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg remained lethargic over the second half of the year. This is consistent with end-of-year CREA
data showing that the home resale market in the Prairie Provinces is still favorable to buyers. At the opposite, markets are favorable to sellers in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, and balanced in B.C. For 2020, expect home prices to accelerate in all these regions except the Prairies.

January 2020

The national HPI increase in November is atypical at this time of the year, as it dropped seven times in that month over the last ten years. Furthermore, the two index monthly drops among the 11 metropolitan areas comprised in the national HPI constitute the lowest diffusion of declines in November over the last decade. If we add 14 other metropolitan areas not comprised in the national index, we have seven index drops last month, which is also the lowest diffusion of declines for a month of November over the decade. Consistent with the recovery of home sales, the two consecutive gains in Vancouver’s index contributed to strengthen the national HPI. Meanwhile, Toronto’s index stagnated over the last two months as home sales plateaued. But this is not worrisome, as the market remains balanced. Montreal’s index displayed the most sustained performance, with 17 rises over the last 20 months, but it is second to Ottawa when it comes to cumulative growth over the period (15.4% for Ottawa against 11.0%
for Montreal).

December 2019

The fact that the national HPI began the fourth quarter with a dip is not troublesome. The fourth quarter is typically a lethargic period for the index. Indeed, last month’s decline was smaller than the average of the last ten Octobers. We do not think that October heralds a downward trend on the national home resale market. We rather welcome the first monthly rise of Vancouver’s index in 15 months. This is consistent with the strong revival of Vancouver home sales since August. On the other hand, October ended a run of six monthly rises in Toronto and Hamilton. Same story for the five-months runs of Montreal and Winnipeg. But there are no reasons to believe that October’s drops in these metropolitan areas are the start of a trend. Judging from the most recent data, the resale market remains balanced in Toronto and Winnipeg, and favorable to sellers in Montreal and Hamilton.

November 2019

The fact that the national HPI has grown each month from May to September is not surprising. Almost all of the increase of a HPI during a year typically takes place over these months where the activity on the home resale market is the most intense. The underlying trend is better revealed when the HPI is seasonally adjusted. After that adjustment, the national HPI showed a downward trend from February to July, but the trend turned upward in August and September (left chart). That being said, this situation was not homogeneous among all the component regions. Seasonally adjusted or not, home prices continue to decline in Vancouver. But home sales in Vancouver have recovered strongly since their March trough (right chart). Over the period, conditions on the home resale market turned from “favorable to buyers” to “balanced”. This suggests that home price deflation should fade over the next few months in Vancouver.

October 2019

Every month we publish data around the activity of the national composite index, and some highlights from Canada’s major housing markets. Our data goes a level deeper, and can highlight the house price activity of neighbourhoods down to the postal code. The new monthly Neighbourhood Spotlight features will focus on this data and highlight Canadian neighbourhoods with particularly high or low index values.

It’s no surprise that one of Toronto’s neighbourhoods is experiencing high index values, as home prices in the city have continued to increase year-over-year. The index covering Downtown Toronto West recently printed an all time high of 328.51. In fact, this was the highest index value in all of Canada in the second quarter of 2019. This neighbourhood includes Dovercourt Village, Little Portugal, Brockton and Roncesvalles, or the FSAs of M6G, M6H, M6J, M6K AND M6R. This neighbourhood has seen an index increase of 8.3% in the past year, 50.9% in the past three years, and 84.6% in the past five years.

In a recent study about the average prices of condos and homes in Toronto neighbourhoods, Zoocasa reported that Roncesvalles, also known as Toronto’s Little Poland, has been a good neighbourhood to invest in as condo prices here have increased 71% over the past five years. The average price of a condo in Roncesvalles is now around $650,000 which still makes it more affordable compared to other Toronto neighbourhoods. Roncesvalles is home to lots of restaurants, with close access to the Entertainment District and Financial District downtown, which could explain why the neighbourhood has become more popular and experienced a significant increase in the price of condos.

To learn more about how you can gain greater insights through our neighhourhood sub-indices contact Michael Pertsis at michael.pertsis@bnc.ca or Kan Zhu kan.zhu@teranet.ca today.

The national HPI has grown at a below-inflation rate of 0.6% over the last 12 months.
However, the weakness is not regionally broad-based. The national HPI has been
depressed by 12 consecutive months without a rise in Vancouver’s index, which
dropped a cumulative 6.6%. Other Western metropolitan areas (Victoria, Calgary,
Edmonton, and Winnipeg) also contributed to slow the national HPI. At the opposite,
annual growth has been decent in most of the regions located in the central and
eastern part of the country (left chart). That being said, home sales in August were up
55% from March in Vancouver, where market conditions went from “favorable to
buyers” to “balanced” (right chart). Over that period, home sales rose 19% in Calgary
and 12% in Edmonton. These improvements, if sustained, will sooner or later help limit
home-price deflation in this region.

September 2019

Each month we share data on 11 indices that form the Composite 11 Index. The data from Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax are all weighted to create this combined national index. The Composite 11 is updated on our website and shared with subscribers via newsletter at 8:30 a.m. each month on the release date. This public data allows you to dive into historical house price activity to see what’s happened month-over-month in Canada’s major housing markets.

In addition to this public data, we also offer a subscription solution that delivers the data from each of the 11 indices from the Composite 11 as well as the monthly and historical files covering 14 additional Canadian CMAs in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The most recent index values from these CMAs are available publically on our website, and can be used to compare the monthly changes between any six of the 25 CMAs. The subscription solution also includes the quarterly Teranet-National Bank House Price Index Sub-Indices, which reports on price changes in specific regions, markets and neighbourhoods across Canada by property type.  

To sign-up for our monthly newsletter and receive the Composite 11 Index data when economists do, click here. If you’d like to receive more information about the subscriptions services, please contact Michael Pertsis at michael.pertsis@bnc.ca or Kan Zhu at kan.zhu@terant.ca.  

The national HPI has grown at a below-inflation rate of 0.4% over the last 12 months, the smallest gain since November 2009. However, the weakness is not regionally broad-based. The national HPI has been depressed by Vancouver’s index loss of 6.2% during this period, corresponding to a 12-month string without a gain. Other Western metropolitan areas (Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg) also contributed to slow the national HPI. At the opposite, annual index growth has been decent in most of the six regions located in the central and eastern part of the country. The fact that the national HPI registered gains over the last three months does not mean that the market has turned the corner. Indeed, the three latest rises were weak compared to the 21-year average for those months. If seasonally adjusted, the national HPI would been down in these months this year. That being said, the recent rebound in home sales across Canada was also felt in the Western part of the country. This should help limit home-price deflation in this region.

August 2019

The national HPI has grown at a below-inflation rate of 0.5% over the last 12 months, the smallest gain since November 2009. Moreover, the fact that monthly gains are reported for May and June does not mean that the market recently turned the corner. These two months typically register the strongest growth rates in a year. Indeed, the two latest rises were among the weakest in history for months of May and June. If seasonally adjusted, the national HPI would been down in both months this year. However, the weakness is not regionally broad-based. The national HPI was dragged down by 12-month home price declines in Western Canada metropolitan areas (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg) and a tiny increase in Victoria. In Central Canada and in the East, home price growth ranges from decent to strong. This is consistent with the state of home resale markets. For example, the Vancouver market turned favorable to buyers at the end of last year, while the Toronto market remained balanced and Montreal’s market has never been this tight since 2005. That being said, a rebound in home sales recently occurred in Canada which was also felt in the largest Western metropolitan areas. This should help limit home-price deflation in these areas.

July 2019

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%).

June 2019