This housing market has slumped 20 per cent in a year

The impact of the oil downturn is becoming clearer as annual data shows how some housing markets have been hit. Fort McMurray for example has seen its average MLS sale price slump by 20 per cent in a year to $468,199 in October. That’s wiped around $117,000 off the price of an average home. In volume terms sales dropped 44 per cent to just 85 homes and year-to-date sales are down 44.8 per cent compared to 2014.

BMO Capital Markets’ chief economist Doug Porter told The Financial Post that current conditions are exacerbating the issue: “The renewed sag in oil in recent months looks to have triggered a renewed weakening in housing markets across much of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Six of the 25 major markets reported double-digit declines in sales last month, and four of those were in these two provinces.”
 

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