Toronto and Vancouver are continuing to see sky-high housing prices, but Calgary’s housing market is continuing to fall.
For the fifth consecutive month, the average price of a Calgary home has dropped.
It was down half a percent from last month.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, prices in the city won’t recover until 2017.
The CMHC estimates the average price will jump about $10,000 to $455,000 at that time.
Some experts do admit that houses are sitting on the market for a bit longer as of late, but say the slow down isn’t expected to continue much longer.
“We haven’t seen the fire sale conditions here that I think many might have predicted for us given what we’ve been through,” said Brett Turner with Redline Real Estate Group. “As we see the stability in the oil market and the employment picture beyond that, we’ll see continued strengthening in our housing market.”
On Thursday, the Bank of Canada issued a warning that housing prices in Toronto and Vancouver are unsustainable given economic foundations.
"You have to admit the possibility that the price could actually decline in these circumstances," Governor Stephen Poloz told a news conference in Ottawa after the release of the bank's semi-annual assessment on the state of Canada's financial stability.
"But we're not predicting that or anything. We're just saying the risk that that could happen, whatever number it is, is growing as we sit here."
According to the document, year-over-year house price growth in the greater Vancouver area hit 30 per cent last month, up from 15 per cent in December. In Toronto, prices increased by 15 per cent, compared to 10 per cent six months ago.
Vulnerabilities linked to greater imbalances in regional housing markets and the continued rise of household debt were higher than they were six months ago, the bank said in its latest financial system review.
Turner adds that the high prices in Toronto and Vancouver are actually good news for Calgary, because it drives buyers into our city instead.
(With files from The Canadian Press)