It's been six years since house prices last did this

House prices in Canada’s five most populated housing markets rose at a balanced, healthy pace in the third quarter of 2017, the first time in six years that this has happened.

Home prices in the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver, Greater Montreal Area, Calgary and Ottawa gained between 1.5% and 3.5% year-over-year according to Royal LePage.

Across the 53 markets analyzed by the firm’s House Price Composite, median prices were up 13.3% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2017 to $628,411.

Standard two-storey homes rose 13.9% to a median $748,049; bungalows were up 9.5% to $525,781; and condos were up 15.2% to $413,670.

Prices in the GTA continued to lead the increases year-over-year with a 21.7% rise, Montreal was up 14.3%, Ottawa rose 7.9%, Calgary was up 5% and Greater Vancouver was up 2.5%.

“For now, the Toronto and Vancouver housing markets have returned to earth,” said Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper. “After a period of unsustainable price inflation and sharp market corrections, we are seeing low single digit appreciation in each. Calgary has shaken off the oil-bust blues and Montreal appears to be at the beginning of a new era of economic prosperity. Rounding out the ‘big five,’ the Ottawa market is behaving like it usually does – a picture of healthy market growth.”

Soper says that rising borrowing costs and weakened foreign buyer interest will keep a lid on rising prices in the major markets.

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