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Resale home prices drop for second straight month

Resale home prices across Canada fell 1% in October from the previous month, marking a back-to-back decline, according to recent figures from the Teranet-National Bank Index.

This was mainly due to Toronto, which saw its index drop by 2.8% from September, National Bank of Canada said in a statement. The index also fell in five other metropolitan areas:

• Hamilton (-1.8%)
• Edmonton (-0.7%)
• Winnipeg (-0.7%)
• Ottawa-Gatineau (-0.3%)
• Calgary (-0.2%)

But gains were also observed in Halifax (+1.3%), Vancouver (+0.7%), Quebec City (+0.6%), Montreal (+0.4%), and Victoria (+0.1%).

However, National Bank economist Marc Pinsonneault believes there are signs that the downward pressure on prices in Toronto is fading. “Following the introduction last April of a tax on foreigners’ acquisitions, market condition
loosened in Toronto. But they went from extremely tight to balanced.” He said this is a positive development for affordability.

But the same cannot be said for Vancouver, “where conditions remained tight despite the implementation in August 2016 of a tax on foreigners’ acquisitions. Pinsonneault pointed out that the prices of Vancouver condos – the most affordable category of dwellings – have risen more than 17% over the last 12 months.

by Paolo Taruc of Real Estate Professional magazine

http://www.repmag.ca