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30 Oct

CMHC Releases Report On Health Of Various Housing Markets

General

Posted by: John Dunford

Four major metropolitan areas show strong evidence of problematic housing market conditions, according to a report from the Crown Corporation.

CMHC’s Housing Market Assessment (HMA), released Thursday afternoon, points to “strong evidence” of problematic conditions in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Regina.

According to the report, Toronto’s analysis is a reflection of price acceleration and overvaluation; the other markets show evidence of overvaluation and overbuilding.

Other markets, meanwhile, are at risk of overvaluation.

“The most prevalent issue detected in 11 of the 15 centres covered by the HMA is overvaluation. The evidence of overvaluation has increased since the previous assessment in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Edmonton, and Saskatoon as price levels are not fully supported by economic and demographic factors,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “Problematic overvaluation conditions in local housing markets could be resolved by moderation in house prices and/or improving economic conditions.”

Noticeably left off the list of problematic markets is Vancouver.

“The HMA points to weak evidence of overall problematic conditions in Vancouver, though we are now detecting moderate evidence of overvaluation,” CMHC said in the report. “However, overheating, acceleration in house prices and overbuilding are not a concern in this market.”

The analysis looked at the national housing market as well as 15 major metropolitan areas — Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec, Moncton, St. John’s and Halifax.