Canadian home prices declined in February for the tenth consecutive month, though the decline was smaller compared to January, according to the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index.Â
Month-over-month
Before seasonal adjustments, home prices decreased by 0.3 per cent from January to February, a smaller decline than the 1.1 per cent decrease observed last month. After adjusting for seasonal effects, prices decreased by 0.5 per cent from January to February.Â
In February, seven of the 11 CMAs included in the index experienced contractions, with Toronto and Calgary seeing the largest decline, dropping 2.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively.Â
Also seeing a decline in prices were Halifax (-1.8 per cent), Edmonton (-0.8 per cent), Hamilton (-0.3 per cent), Montreal (-0.3 per cent) and Ottawa-Gatineau (-0.2 per cent).Â
Meanwhile, prices ticked up in Vancouver and Victoria, rising 3.8 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, while prices in Quebec City saw a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent and remained stable in Winnipeg.Â
For the other CMAs not included in the composite index, a decrease was observed in 11 of the 20 CMAs for which data is available in February.Â
The largest monthly decreases were observed in Thunder Bay, Ont. (-12.5 per cent after a gain of 2.8 per cent the previous month) and Sherbrooke, Que. (-10.5 per cent after a gain of 9.0 per cent the previous month).Â
Conversely, notable increases were observed in Trois-Rivieres. Que. (7.7 per cent after a decrease of 9.0 per cent the previous month) and Guelph, Ont. (6.6 per cent after a decline of 9.4 per cent in January).
Year-over-year
The Teranet-National Bank Composite Home Price Index, which covers eleven CMAs across the country, reported a decline of 4.7 percent from February 2022 to February 2023, the second consecutive month in which the annual change in the index was in negative territory.Â
Increases were seen in four of the 11 cities that make up the composite index in February.Â
Calgary led the way with a year-over-year price increase of 8.8 per cent, followed by Quebec City with a 5.0 per cent gain, and Edmonton with a 1.9 per cent increase.Â
As for the lagging markets, prices fell the most in Hamilton (-14.0 per cent), Toronto (-8.8 per cent) and Vancouver (-3.9 per cent).Â
As for the other 20 CMAs not included in the composite index, five positive annual gains were observed.Â
The strongest growth was recorded in Trois-Rivieres (12.4. per cent) and Saint John (12.1 per cent), while the largest declines were in Abbotsford-Mission (-15.1 per cent), Guelph (-16.6 per cent) and Thunder Bay (-17.5 per cent).
