Diversity in Canada’s housing markets

When talking about diversity, Canada is one of the few countries one can get to experience such opportunities in various sectors but quite recently, diversity has become very prominent in the Canadian housing sector.

Over the recent years, the housing sector has seen very hot housing markets likewise very mild markets. The development of both hot and cold housing markets has made Canada stand out amongst other international housing markets.

Not so long in the past months, the Vancouver housing market became the third most unaffordable city in the world and also the city in 2016 was the world’s fastest house growth during its third quarter.
But just as the Vancouver market was way above other markets, other Canadian real estate markets were listed amongst the worst under-performed markets globally.

According to data from Knight Frank, an international real estate agency, Vancouver was only out shined by cities in China. Vancouver had a growth rate of 2.4% in 2016, Victoria, British. Columbia followed with a 17.9% growth rate while Toronto had a 16.4% growth rate, making these cities to be ranked as one of the hottest markets in the world.

On the contrast, there were some housing markets that were on the flip side of the coin with Calgary’s market making a 4.9% landing it as the seventh worst-performing markets.

Also ranking amongst the 26 worst-performing markets where Quebec City with 2% growth, Halifax 0.9% and Edmonton with 0.7%.

However, the glorious days of the Vancouver market will soon be over as by the end of 2016, the average home price decline by 26% but this drop does not apply to all housing types. Despite the drop in Vancovuer housing market, Canada’s days near the top list will still continue as the Greater Toronto Area market is surging at a rapid rate with agents projecting a double digit growth rate by the end of the year.

For Calgary and Edmonton markets, home growth is being affected by a drop oil prices with home sales declining by 17% and the price of a detached home drop to $498,000 making it the lowest average price it has experienced since November, 2014.