The housing sectors in oil-dependent locales are in most danger of sharp market and economic downturns, according to experts
The Canadian housing sector has seen a remarkable cooling in the first part of the year, due in no small part to the flagging performance of commodities in some key regions, according to economists.
The locales most at risk are “any city or region exposed to oil prices,” BMO economist Robert Kavcic told Global News. These places include Halifax (which saw a 1.8 per cent drop in prices), Edmonton (8 per cent decrease), and Newfoundland (9.9 per cent decline).
Latest figures stated that high-demand regions and metropolitan areas such as the Fraser Valley (which exhibited 27.5 per cent price growth) kept national averages up, and not much else.
“[T]he Toronto and Vancouver housing party rolled into the new year, offsetting what has been extreme weakness in commodity-heavy markets,” TD economist Diana Petramala said. The cities respectively showed 14.2 per cent and 30.9 per cent increases in home prices.
These gains belied the overall situation, though, as average national prices—except in Ontario and British Columbia—went down by 0.3 per cent in January. This represented a median price of $286,911 on the first part of 2016.
The locales most at risk are “any city or region exposed to oil prices,” BMO economist Robert Kavcic told Global News. These places include Halifax (which saw a 1.8 per cent drop in prices), Edmonton (8 per cent decrease), and Newfoundland (9.9 per cent decline).
Latest figures stated that high-demand regions and metropolitan areas such as the Fraser Valley (which exhibited 27.5 per cent price growth) kept national averages up, and not much else.
“[T]he Toronto and Vancouver housing party rolled into the new year, offsetting what has been extreme weakness in commodity-heavy markets,” TD economist Diana Petramala said. The cities respectively showed 14.2 per cent and 30.9 per cent increases in home prices.
These gains belied the overall situation, though, as average national prices—except in Ontario and British Columbia—went down by 0.3 per cent in January. This represented a median price of $286,911 on the first part of 2016.
