Single-family home prices dip

April 18, 2019

The last time the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index declined in March from a month earlier was a decade ago as the global financial crisis roiled markets around the world.
This March, the index that measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes fell 0.3 per cent from February. It was the sixth consistent month that the index showed a price decline.
Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist at National Bank of Canada, said prices fell in seven of the 11 markets in the index.
In Victoria prices were down 1.1 percent, with Vancouver prices down 0.5 percent. Once Canada’s hottest housing market, Vancouver sales and prices have fallen since the start of last year because tighter mortgage rules and interest rate hikes, combined with higher provincial taxes, have curbed buyer spending power.
On an annual basis, prices rose 1.5 percent in March, led by a 5.5 percent increase in Montreal and a 5.2 per cent increase in the national capital region.