CREA says market fundamentals remain strong, but many markets continue to struggle “in the face of policy headwinds”.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has updated its forecast for home sales activity (dated June 18th 2018). It contains many statistics for house sales performance, and predictions of the market’s behaviour through 2018 and 2019.
Some highlights from the forecast include:
- “Interest rates are widely expected to rise further this year and next. Home sales activity is nonetheless still expected to strengthen modestly in the second half of 2018 as housing market uncertainty diminishes.”
- “The national sales forecast has been revised downward and is now projected to decline by 11% to 459,900 units this year. The decrease almost entirely reflects weaker sales in B.C. and Ontario amid heightened housing market uncertainty, provincial policy measures, high home prices, ongoing supply shortages and this year’s new mortgage stress test.”
- “British Columbia is also now forecast to see its average price rise in 2018, as prices in the province have been more resilient than previously expected.”
There are more housing markets available from CREA, including those relevant to the Kootenay Real Estate Board.