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CMHC Keeps Red Flag on Canada’s Housing Market, with Several Cities Still Too Hot


Under Real Estate

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January 28th, 2017

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is not removing the red flag it raised three months ago for the housing market, saying there is still strong overall evidence of problematic market conditions.

The Crown corporation, which provides housing advice for the federal government, said Thursday it has kept the rating for a second consecutive quarter due to overvaluation and price acceleration in the country’s housing markets.

“We continue to detect strong evidence of problematic conditions in Canada. Price acceleration in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Hamilton indicates that home price growth may be driven by speculation as it is outpacing what economic fundamentals like migration, employment and income can support,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist with CMHC. “For this reason, home buyers should ensure that their purchases are aligned with their needs as well as the long-term market outlook.”

The latest changes come after the federal’s government recent crackdown on lending designed to slow the market. Among key changes has been a stress-testing of government backed mortgages and consumers with those products must qualify based on the five-year Bank of Canada posted rate of 4.64%.

CMHC noted in its release that even though prices rose seven per cent on a year over year basis at the end of the third quarter of 2016, once Ontario — and its red-hot Greater Toronto Area market — was removed, house prices remain flat through the period.

The quarterly Housing Market Assessment report is said by CMHC to provide an “early warning system” to alert Canadians about concerns the Crown corporation has about housing markets so people can take action. CMHC says the goal is promote stability in the market.

Conditions are broken down into four categories, overheating, price acceleration, overvaluation and overbuilding. Each category gets a weak, moderate or strong rating and 15 centres are studied with an overall rating and then further overall rating produced for the country.

Six cities made it into the red zone for overall strong evidence of problematic conditions. Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina, Hamilton and Toronto were on for a second quarter in a row, while Calgary dropped off to moderate replaced by Victoria which now shows strong evidence of problematic conditions.

“Evidence of problematic conditions has increased in Victoria since the previous assessment due to moderate evidence of price acceleration and overvaluation,” said CMHC, in its release.

The Crown corporation says overvaluation and overbuilding are the most prevalent problematic conditions observed across the 15 centres covered, detected in eight centres.

In Calgary, CMHC said there is evidence problematic conditions have decreased since the previous assessment as some housing markets in oil-dependent centres are now rebalancing.

“As Calgary home prices have become more in-line with economic and demographic fundamentals, our overall assessment posted an improvement from strong to moderate evidence of problematic conditions,” said Richard Cho, a market analyst in Calgary for CMHC. “However, overbuilding is still a concern as Calgary’s rental apartment vacancy rate remains at an elevated level.”

CMHC Keeps Red Flag on Canada’s Housing Market, with Several Cities Still Too Hot by Garry Marr | Financial Post

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