Rising home prices in Vancouver and Toronto were among the factors pushing a measure of Canadian home prices to above the historical January average.
The Teranet-National Bank National Composite Home Price Index increased 0.3% in January compared to December 2017, its second consecutive monthly gain.
Vancouver prices rose for the fifth consecutive month. This time rising 1.2% following a 1.3% gain in December. There were gains for Victoria (1%), Toronto (0.2%) and Montreal (0.1%). Vancouver and Montreal were the only markets surveyed whose index reached an all-time high in January.
The other major metro areas all saw prices slip: Hamilton (−0.2%), Ottawa-Gatineau (‑0.2%), Edmonton (−0.3%), Calgary (−0.3%), Halifax (-1.0%), Winnipeg (−1.1%) and Quebec City (−2.0%).
Toronto’s gain was the first in 6 months and was almost entirely down to condos.
Year-over-year, the composite index was up 8.7% from a year earlier, the smallest 12-month rise since May 2016 and a seventh consecutive deceleration from the record 12-month gains of 14.2% last June.
Vancouver led the annual gains (16.2%) followed by Victoria (12.4%) and Hamilton (9.8%) while Toronto was up 8.4%.
