Canada's Housing Bubble

Nov 24, 2010 Ben Rabidoux financialinsights.wordpress.com

The Teranet House Price index recorded broad month-over-month declines in September.  This index calculates price changes by tracking the observed or registered home prices over time.  Properties with at least two sales are required in the calculations. Such a “sales pair” measures the increase or decrease of the property value in the period between the sales in a linear fashion.  It’s methodology is similar to the widely referenced Case/Shiller index out of the US.

Price declines in all six markets

Canadian home prices in September were down 1.1% from the previous month, according to the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index™.”

“The monthly decline ended a string of 16 consecutive increases in the composite index since the last monthly deflation in April 2009. For the first time since February 2009, prices fell in all six of the metropolitan markets surveyed. The declines were 2.4% in Halifax, 2.2% in Calgary, 1.6% in Toronto, 0.5% in Ottawa and 0.3% in Montreal and Vancouver.”

“For Vancouver it was the third consecutive monthly decrease and for Calgary it was the second.”

While house prices remained elevated over year-ago levels in September, the trend is obvious!