Canadian Housing Markets: Who's Hot and Who's Not

According to the Teranet-National Bank, home prices in Canada increased 0.6 per cent in February 2016 from January 2016. The prices of homes jumped 6.5 per cent from last year according to the Teranet-National Bank home price index which was released this week.

The national reading of home prices in Canada displayed the fastest increase for a month of February since the recession. This was all due to another sizzle in Vancouver.

Prices of homes were up during the month in six of the 11 metropolitan markets analyzed. The gain of the composite index came fully from a 3.2 per cent jump in the Vancouver real estate market. According to the Vancouver real estate board, last month was the highest-selling February on record.

In cities like Victoria, home prices increased 0.9 per cent on a monthly basis and in Toronto, home prices jumped 0.2 per cent. Home prices in Quebec City had a 0.7 per cent increase and there was a 0.1 per cent jump in prices of homes in Edmonton and Winnipeg.

In cities like Hamilton and Ottawa, prices fell 0.4 per cent. Calgary saw a 0.9 per cent drop in home prices. In Montreal, home prices dropped 1.2 per cent and in Halifax, there was a 2.9 per cent decrease.

The rise in the national index on a yearly basis was the fastest since January 2012 but this was again driven by Vancouver and other cities including Toronto, Hamilton and Victoria.

In the province of Alberta, which has been affected by falling oil prices, the price of homes dropped 3.3 per cent in Calgary and 1 per cent in Edmonton from 2015.

Home Price Statistics/Figures on a Annual Basis

Vancouver: 14.5 per cent increase

Hamilton: 9.5 per cent increase

Toronto: 9 per cent increase

Victoria: 9 per cent increase

Winnipeg: 1.3 per cent increase

Quebec City: 0.9 per cent increase

Montreal: 0.2 per cent decrease

Halifax: 0.3 per cent decrease

Ottawa region: 0.3 per cent decrease

Reference: The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/sizzling-…/article29205512/