Housing prices slide in December

Statistics Canada’s New Housing Price Index slipped 0.1% in December, relative to the previous month. Prices fell in seven of the 27 metropolitan areas surveyed.

The largest month-over-month decreases were in Greater Sudbury, Calgary and Toronto. They fell 0.7%, 0.4% and 0.4%, respectively, relative to November.

The top increases came in from the east. The New Brunswick cities of Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton all reported 0.6% bumps.

Relative to a year ago, the index is up 0.1%. The largest annual declines were in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo and Ottawa — both fell 1.4%.

The greatest increases were in Calgary and Quebec, at 3.9% and 3.8%, respectively.

In a note to investors, CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham wrote that these and other results indicate that “past interest rate cuts are starting to help growth.” In per-capita terms, however, economic activity is weak, “suggesting plenty of room for further growth before we should start worrying too much about inflationary pressures.”

The bank is forecasting a 25-basis-point cut by the Bank of Canada at its Jan. 29 meeting.

Earlier this month, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts were up 2% in 2024, relative to the previous year.

Kevin Press

Kevin Press is editorial director for Advisor.ca. He has been writing about money since 1997. Reach him at kevin@newcom.ca.