Briefing highlights
- The gap in housing markets
- A BoC scene I’d love to see
- Markets, loonie at a glance
- TD in deal for Greystone
- Airbus renames C Series
- Housing starts jump in June
Extremes
Canada is a country of extremes when it comes to the strength of its housing markets.
So much so that we rank near the top of a list of countries whose home price changes have the widest gaps among cities.
You’d expect at least some of that, given the breadth of the country, but the findings by Knight Frank illustrate just how extreme it is, underscoring concerns over prices in the Vancouver and Toronto areas.
The first-quarter study by the real estate consulting group doesn’t take into account the latest hit to Vancouver, in June, but it still gets the idea across.
Canada ranked third for the strongest-weakest gap, at 15.8 percentage points, from Vancouver’s year-over year home price increase of 15.4 per cent to Quebec City’s decline of 0.4 per cent.
India ranked No. 1, and Australia No. 2.
The 10 countries with the largest gap between their strongest and weakest-performing cities
Weakest-performer
Strongest-performer
Difference in percentage points: 27.1 p.p.
India
Delhi
Surat
20.6
Australia
Darwin
Hobart
15.8
Canada
Quebec
Vancouver
14.1
Edinburgh
Britain
Aberdeen
12.7
Turkey
Istanbul
Izmir
11.6
Sevilla
Spain
Malaga
10.2
U.S.
Chicago
Seattle
10.0
Japan
Nagoya
Osaka
9.9
China
Shenzhen
Chongqing
9.6
Lille
Lyon
France
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25%
12-MONTH PER CENT CHANGE (Q1 2017–Q1 2018)
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: KNIGHT FRANK
The 10 countries with the largest gap between their strongest and weakest-performing cities
Weakest-performer
Strongest-performer
Difference in percentage points: 27.1 p.p.
India
Delhi
Surat
20.6
Australia
Darwin
Hobart
15.8
Canada
Quebec
Vancouver
14.1
Edinburgh
Britain
Aberdeen
12.7
Turkey
Istanbul
Izmir
11.6
Sevilla
Spain
Malaga
10.2
U.S.
Chicago
Seattle
10.0
Japan
Nagoya
Osaka
9.9
China
Shenzhen
Chongqing
9.6
Lille
Lyon
France
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25%
12-MONTH PER CENT CHANGE (Q1 2017–Q1 2018)
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: KNIGHT FRANK
The 10 countries with the largest gap between their strongest and weakest-performing cities
Weakest-performer
Strongest-performer
Difference in
percentage points:
27.1 p.p.
India
Delhi
Surat
20.6
Australia
Darwin
Hobart
15.8
Canada
Quebec
Vancouver
14.1
Edinburgh
Britain
Aberdeen
12.7
Turkey
Istanbul
Izmir
11.6
Sevilla
Spain
Malaga
10.2
U.S.
Chicago
Seattle
10.0
Japan
Nagoya
Osaka
9.9
China
Shenzhen
Chongqing
9.6
Lille
Lyon
France
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25%
12-MONTH PER CENT CHANGE (Q1 2017–Q1 2018)
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: KNIGHT FRANK
Knight Frank’s overall index, which tracks prices in 150 centres, gained in the quarter by just 4 per cent from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2015′s third quarter.
“The increased use of macroprudential measures to curb price inflation along with escalating affordability constraints account for the index’s weaker performance,” said Knight Frank partner Kate Everett-Allen.
Canada is a case in point on that front, with measures at the provincial government and federal regulatory levels aimed at easing frothy markets, largely Vancouver and Toronto.
Vancouver is extreme in its own right, by the way.
“In Vancouver the mainstream and prime markets are diverging with prices registering 15.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, on an annual basis,” Knight Frank said.
Read more
- Vancouver’s detached-home market hits a rough patch
- Brent Jang: Vancouver housing sales drop as prices flatline
- Kerry Gold: Recycled listings around Vancouver obscure a major market correction
- Victoria Gibson: Toronto housing market begins to stabilize after months-long slump
- When you can’t afford to sell your home because you can’t afford the next one: A cross-Canada look at what it takes
- A 5-year, 33-city home price forecast (which you’ll like unless you live in Sudbury, Regina or Moncton)
- Whack-A-Mole: Housing speculators leap from singles to condos, sparking new threat
- David Berman: Higher rates, stricter mortgage rules curbing home prices but debt still a key risk: BoC
- The arresting number that says it all about Toronto’s housing market slump
- The ‘sea change’ in Canadian mortgages is going to really hurt
- Remember halcyon days and times a-changin’? Canadian baby boomers now face a housing crisis
- Refuse to sell your house at these prices? Join the (growing) club
A scene I’d love to see
I wouldn’t raise interest rates just yet if I were you.
Photo illustration
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Markets at a glance
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