In July the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ was up 1.2% from the previous month, a seventh consecutive monthly increase. The rise exceeded the 14-year July average of 1.0%. Prices were up on the month in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed – 2.7% in Hamilton, 2.4% in Toronto, 2.3% in Ottawa-Gatineau, 1.7% in Victoria, 1.6% in Vancouver and 0.3% in Montreal. Prices were down on the month in Winnipeg (−0.5%), Quebec City (−0.6%), Edmonton (−0.7%), Halifax (−1.0%) and Calgary (−1.9%). The composite index was at another all-time high in July, though only the Vancouver, Hamilton and Toronto component indexes matched it in this regard. The resale market in those three centres is a seller’s market according to the Canadian Real Estate Association criterion of sales relative to new listings. In recent months sales have been rising strongly in all the markets surveyed except Halifax and Winnipeg, though in Calgary and Edmonton sales are still below their year-ago level.
In July the composite index was up 5.1% from a year earlier, the same as in June. The 12-month gain was well above the countrywide average in Vancouver (9.9%), Toronto (8.4%) and Hamilton (6.7%). It was below the average in Victoria (3.9%), Edmonton (1.9%), Winnipeg (0.9%), Quebec City (0.6%) and Ottawa-Gatineau (0.5%). Prices were down from a year earlier in in Montreal and Halifax (−0.6%) and in Calgary (−2.3%). With an index at 196.94 as of July, Vancouver just outpaced Winnipeg (195.89) as the metropolitan area where house prices increased the most since June 2005.
