The latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show the median home price in Canada was $637,673 in August 2022, down 3.9 per cent from the same month last year. However, according to CREA’s Home Price Index, some areas have seen only small declines, if at all, while home prices in others are in full free fall. Here’s how housing markets are shaping up across the country:
ONTARIO
The benchmark price of a home in Ontario was $904,800 in August 2022, down 15.9 per cent from its peak in February 2022. The Greater Toronto Area saw a similar 15.2 per cent drop in prices over the same period , from $1.36 million to $1.12 million. But the largest declines occurred in communities within a two-hour drive of Toronto. The benchmark price of a home in Cambridge fell by 24.5 per cent over the same period, while Oakville, London and Kitchener-Waterloo saw a 23 per cent drop. The only Ontario communities that bucked the trend and saw home prices rise were Bancroft, Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor-Essex, where home prices rose 10 to 14 percent during that time.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
e.g. it was the province that had the most expensive houses. The benchmark price in BC was $995,500 in August 2022, down 5 per cent from six months ago. Greater Vancouver saw home prices drop 4.6 per cent from February 2022, while the Fraser Valley region saw a drop of 11.2 per cent. The Chilliwack region saw the sharpest price declines in the province, where home prices fell 16.9 per cent in six months. However, on Vancouver Island, the benchmark home price actually increased by 6.9%.
KUBEK
In Quebec, home prices only started falling in May. The benchmark home price in the province was $489,900 in August 2022, down 2.5%. Similarly, home prices fell 2.4 percent in Montreal to $523,700, while home prices in Quebec City fell only 1.4 percent.
REST
In Alberta, the August 2022 benchmark home price was $469,900, up 2.5 per cent in six months, and CREA says prices in the province “appear to have peaked.” Calgary home prices rose 10.6 per cent — the biggest price jump in the prairies — while Edmonton home prices rose 1.1 per cent. CREA says home prices in Saskatchewan “continue to increase slightly.” Home prices rose 5.3 percent in the province. However, Manitoba was the only province in the Prairies to see home prices decline. Over six months, the benchmark price in Winnipeg fell 4.5%.
ATLANTIC CANADA
In Nova Scotia, the benchmark home price increased 10.3 percent between February 2022 and August 2022, to $395,300. That’s still down from the peak in May, when the benchmark was at $417,500. In New Brunswick, prices rose 6.5% over the same six-month period, and in Newfoundland and Labrador, home prices rose 7.9%. However, like Nova Scotia, CREA says markets in those provinces appear to be softening. In Prince Edward Island, house prices rose 13.1%, more than any other province. CREA says prices on the island “continue to increase on a monthly basis”.
