The Q1 2019 Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Forecast was released to media early this morning. Below you will find highlights from the release, links to social media assets available for you to share, and select media coverage.
Key highlights from the national release include:
- The price of a home in Canada increased 2.7% year-over-year to $621,575 in the first quarter of 2019, below the long-term norm of 5%. Condominiums remained the fastest growing housing type on a national basis, rising 5.4% year-over-year to $447,260.
- Royal LePage forecast that the price of a home in Canada will increase 1.0% to $627,945 over the next three months.
- The global economy hit a soft spot entering the new year. Economic downturns in China and Germany, ongoing trade disputes, and slowing U.S. growth support a relatively muted global outlook. The upside for the Canadian housing market is the increased likelihood that interest rate hikes are on hold for the foreseeable future.
- The City of Toronto continues to be one of Canada’s fastest appreciating real estate markets. Median home prices in the City of Toronto rose 5.8% year-over-year, while the overall GTA’s aggregate home prices rose 3.4% in the same period.
- The aggregate price of a home in the Greater Montreal Area passed the $400,000 mark, rising to $406,332, an increase of 5.5% from the same period last year. This represents a higher rate of appreciation than that seen in both the GTA and Greater Vancouver, and above the national aggregate percentage increase.
- In eastern Ontario, Ottawa home prices appreciated by 7.7% year-over-year. The aggregate price of a home in Ottawa has now surpassed that of Calgary for the first time, a trend unforeseen five years ago.
- For the first time since 2012, Greater Vancouver home prices declined year-over-year, with the aggregate price dipping 1.5 per cent for the first quarter of 2019 to $1,239, 306, while overall listing volumes are increasing.
A big thank you to all of our spokespeople from across the country for their contributions in providing regional perspectives. Regional insights can be found in both the national release and in city-specific releases.
