Just when you think housing prices can’t get any higher, they do. It’s no secret that Canadian housing prices can be steep, but based on the newest data available, they’ve climbed again in both Toronto and Vancouver. According to the recently released May 2015 data, the average price of a detached home in Toronto is now $1.15 million and $1.42 million in Vancouver. In Toronto, that’s an increase of just over 18% from the previous year. Toronto and Vancouver have both seen incredible increases in demand for homes (and a shortage of listings in some competitive markets. Overall housing affordability however, continues to decline. It’s interesting to note that foreign home buyers are rising and according to Forbes, home buyers from India are gaining on the Chinese, especially in the Vancouver market.
In the Toronto Real Estate Board news release, Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis shared insights. “Tight market conditions, especially for singles, semis and town homes in the GTA, have resulted in strong price growth regardless of the price metric being considered. With no relief so far on the listings front, expect similar rates of price growth as we move through the remainder of 2015.
In May, home prices actually climbed in all major Canadian cities in May except in struggling Calgary.