Canada's housing market may have peaked this year, as Vancouver and Calgary sales were down 45 and 42 per cent, respectively, compared to last July.
Canada's housing market may have peaked this year, as Vancouver and Calgary sales were down 45 and 42 per cent, respectively, compared to last July.
Mortgage rates are at a record low and there are many homes available for sale yet new buyers are still not entering the market.
"We expected the market to soften because we've seen such a flood of listings," said Laura Parsons, a Calgary-based manager at Bank of Montreal who specializes in mortgages, to The Globe and Mail. "You can look at this as a bad thing, but affordability has improved for many buyers and rates are still very low."
Even still, it is likely many felt pressured to buy earlier this year to secure a cheap mortgage, and avoid the harmonized sales tax that came into effect July 1 in Ontario and British Columbia.
