Prices for repeat home sales in Calgary and Edmonton remain close to six per cent down from their peaks, according to a report released on Thursday.
The Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index indicated that in August, prices in Calgary were down 5.9 per cent from their peak in October 2014. In Edmonton, they’ve dropped by 5.92 per cent from their peak in September 2007.
The index tracks observed or registered home prices over time using data collected from public land registries. All dwellings sold at least twice are considered in the calculation of the index.
Nationally, the index rose by 0.4 per cent from the month before but the gain was below the 21-year average for the month. In August, the gain was 0.7 per cent.
“Over the last four months, the composite index has been braked by a continuing decline of the index for Vancouver and the flatness of the index for Edmonton. In August, indexes were down for Vancouver (-0.8 per cent), Edmonton (-0.1 per cent) and Quebec City (-0.4 per cent). For Vancouver, it was a 13th month without a rise, for Edmonton a third in four months. For Quebec City, on the other hand, it was a first decline after three consecutive monthly rises. The seven other markets of the composite index were all up on the month: Victoria 0.2 per cent, Calgary 0.6 per cent, Hamilton 0.7 per cent, Winnipeg 0.7 per cent, Toronto 0.8 per cent, Montreal 1.1 per cent, Ottawa-Gatineau 1.7 per cent and Halifax 1.8 per cent. For Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa-Gatineau and Victoria it was a fifth consecutive rise, for Montreal, Winnipeg and Halifax a fourth,” said the report.
The prior weakness of indexes for several markets is reflected in the 12-month rise in the composite index, which at 0.6 per cent in August was small but an acceleration, for the first time in nine months, added the report.
“That rise was held down by the largest markets of Western Canada – Vancouver down 6.6 per cent from a year earlier, Edmonton down 3.1 per cent, and Calgary down 2.3 per cent. There were slight 12-month gains for Quebec City (0.1 per cent), Victoria (0.7 per cent) and Winnipeg (1.1 per cent). The gains were larger for Toronto (3.8 per cent), Hamilton (4.4 per cent), Halifax (5.5 per cent), Montreal (5.7 per cent) and Ottawa-Gatineau (6.4 per cent).”
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