What a difference a year – and a stress test – makes in Canada’s housing market
The year just gone wasn’t a stellar one for the housing market. The latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association put December’s sales activity down a jaw-dropping 19% from the year before and 12% below the 10-year average. Month-over-month, national home sales fell by 2.5% between November and December, and transactions declined in 60% of local markets.
The softening market stands in stark contrast to the figures from the final month of 2017, when would-be homebuyers had an extra incentive to rush to purchase thanks to the January 1 implementation of the mortgage stress test, driving a 4.5% year-over-year increase in sales activity. The softer market of the months since likely also owes a lot to the new mortgage rules – and CREA predicts that 2019 will bring more of the same.
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