The challenges facing Canada’s housing market are getting bigger and more diverse, but the solution may be to wait and see.
The latest release by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) on Nov. 16 showed home sales rose in October by 1.8 percent and reached the second-highest monthly level in almost six years.
“The national increase was driven by monthly sales gains in the lower mainland of British Columbia together with the Greater Toronto Area (GTA),” according to CREA.
The report also highlighted the diametrically different problems facing the overheating markets in B.C. and Ontario and cooling markets in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The national average price rose 8.3 percent to $454,976 in October (on a year-over-year basis), but excluding Greater Vancouver (up 15.33 percent) and Greater Toronto (up 10.33 percent), the increase was just 2.5 percent.
