So we have got to March, and the stats are now on my website to the end of February, but what follows is an article of interest from the CBC, as credited, and published about 10 days ago:
So people of this area, there is some movement in the averages: the big properties with huge costs have dropped the most, the averages tell the more positive picture for sellers.
Buyers too, beware things are starting to tighten a little.
Home prices in Canada declined for the fifth straight month
in January, according to the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index.
Prices were down 0.3 per cent over the 11-city composite index.
Home
prices declined in seven of 11 major Canadian markets from December,
according to the widely followed index. Victoria, Halifax, Quebec City
and Ottawa saw prices rise.
Prices
rose 2.7 per cent from a year earlier, but that was the lowest annual
growth rate since late 2009 as the housing market continues to cool.
January
was the 14th straight month where the annual price increase was smaller
than the month before, according to the Teranet-National Bank analysis.
Only Vancouver has seen an annual decline in home prices, falling 2.5 per cent from January 2012.
In Toronto, where many analysts are calling for a slowdown, prices were up 5.3 per cent annually.
Starting to cool
Many analysts are calling on Canadian home sales to continue to cool, especially in the red-hot Toronto and Vancouver markets.
"We
anticipate a further softening in both sales and pricing in 2013,"
Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren said in a note to investors. But
she expects the correction to be mild, with low interest rates and job
growth preventing a sharper correction.
Home prices in Canada fall for 5th straight month
The
federal government has taken steps over the past couple years to avoid a
bubble and cool the housing market by tightening mortgage rules.
The
Canadian Real Estate Association found that sales activity dropped by
5.2 per cent in January compared to a year ago, which they attributed to
the tighter rules.
Bank of
Canada governor Mark Carney welcomed the cooling market, saying it's all
part of the Canadian economy's transition from one dependent on
borrowing to one more reliant on strong exports.
©CBC, 2013
So people of this area, there is some movement in the averages: the big properties with huge costs have dropped the most, the averages tell the more positive picture for sellers.
Buyers too, beware things are starting to tighten a little.