Prices for repeat home sales in both Calgary and Edmonton are down more than eight per cent from their peaks, according to the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index which was released on Wednesday.
The report said Calgary prices in April were down by 8.05 per cent from the peak in October 2014 while Edmonton prices fell by 8.60 per cent from their peak in September 2007.
The index is estimated by tracking observed or registered home prices over time using data collected from public land registries. All dwellings that have been sold at least twice are considered in the calculation of the index.
In April the index was up 1.3 per cent in Canada from the previous month. As in February and March, that was double the average gain of the last 10 Aprils. Leading the countrywide average rise were the metropolitan markets of Ottawa-Gatineau (2.4 per cent), Toronto (2.0 per cent), Halifax (1.8 per cent), Montreal (1.7 per cent), Victoria (1.2 per cent), Hamilton (1.1 per cent) and Winnipeg (0.9 per cent). Matching it was Vancouver at 0.6 per cent. Trailing it were Quebec City (0.3 per cent), Calgary (0.2 per cent) and Edmonton (flat on the month), said the report.
“The index for Vancouver has now gone seven months without a decline, confirming a turnaround of the trend of the previous 14 straight months without a rise. The index for Ottawa-Gatineau has risen in 12 of the last 13 months, those for Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal in 11. Over a longer term, Montreal stands out with 35 gains in the last 40 months, trailed distantly by Toronto and Hamilton with 26 and Ottawa-Gatineau with 25. It is true, however, that the last three markets have risen slightly more than Montreal over those 40 months,” said the report.
In April the composite index was up 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, for a ninth consecutive acceleration of the 12-month gain to its strongest since May 2018. The 12-month rise was led by Ottawa-Gatineau (13.2 per cent), Montreal (9.5 per cent), Halifax (9.5 per cent), Hamilton (8.9 per cent) and Toronto (8.2 per cent). Lagging the countrywide average were Victoria (4.6 per cent), Winnipeg (3.2 per cent) and Vancouver (0.4 per cent). The Quebec City index was flat from a year earlier, having fluctuated without tendency over the 12 months. Deflating over the 12 months were Calgary (−0.8 per cent) and Edmonton (−2.8 per cent), added the report.
