The average price of a home in Canada increased year-over-year between 3.3% and 5.5% in the second quarter of this year, according to new data from Toronto-based Royal LePage. By the end of this year, Royal LePage expects the Canadian national average price for housing to be 3.2% higher compared to the same period of 2011.
In the second quarter, standard two-story homes rose 4.7% year-over-year to C$408,423, while detached bungalows increased 5.5% to C$376,311. Average prices for standard condominiums increased 3.3% to C$245,825. However, Royal LePage warns that the Canadian national housing market was at a ‘turning point,’ with some major regions continuing to grow unabated while others peaked and began to pull back for the first time in three years.
‘We have had three years of solid house price appreciation in almost all regions of the country,’ says Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. ‘Confidence in Canada's real estate market is sound, but home prices cannot grow faster than salaries and the underlying economy indefinitely. Some regions have reached or perhaps even exceeded the current upper level of price resistance as buyers have embraced an era of historically low mortgage rates.’
While average Canadian house prices continued to appreciate in the second quarter, Royal LePage reports that some regional markets showed clear signs of softening demand. Strong price appreciation was experienced in Toronto, as well as in the energy- and commodity-driven regions including St. John's, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Halifax.