Canada: House prices rise in August
The Teranet-National Bank House Price Index rose 0.6% terms in August, which followed July’s 1.8% increase. August’s outturn marked the worst reading since March, but was still the sixth straight month of expansion. On an annual basis, house prices rebounded 1.1% in August (July: -1.9% yoy), the best result since November 2022.
Housing starts were down 1% in August from July, though the July–August average was still slightly above that of Q2, boding well for residential investment in Q3.
Taken together, the latest housing data suggests that the real estate market is holding up well despite high interest rates, buoyed by strong population growth.
On the outlook for housing starts, TD Economics’ Rishi Sondhi said:
“Moving forward, we think that starts will trend lower towards the end of this year and into 2024, as last year’s weakness in home sales filters through to residential construction activity. That said, the federal government and several provinces’ decision to drop the GST/HST on purpose-built rental construction could lift activity going forward.”