Home prices went up month-to-month in just three out of 11 metropolitan markets surveyed by Teranet in February.
The 1.5% gain in home prices in Vancouver was the highest across Canada, according to data March 12 from the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index (HPI).
The HPI, which calculates price changes for repeated sales of homes, was up 0.5% in Victoria and 0.3% in Hamilton. Every other region surveyed experienced declines but the HPI was still up 0.1% across the nation.
When it comes to year-over-year figures, only rising home prices in Hamilton (8%) and Toronto (7.3%) managed to outdo Vancouver’s gain of 5.7%.
Year-over-year, the HPI for Canada’s largest cities rose 4.4% in February compared with 4.7% in January.
“This marks the fourth straight month of decelerating home price growth,” Admir Kolaj, an economic analyst at TD Economics, wrote in a note to investors.
“The four-month trend of slowing price growth is consistent with our expectations of a moderation in home price growth over the next two years. That said, the national outlook masks a growing regional divide between the oil-producing and non-oil producing regions.”
The HPI was down 0.3% in Calgary and 0.8% in Edmonton.
Toronto, meanwhile, experienced a decline in home prices of just 0.1%, matching the national average.
“Elsewhere, economic conditions are expected to remain more favourable for housing activity due to a rising U.S. economy, a low Canadian dollar and lower-for-longer interest rates,” Kolaj wrote.
