CREA data: Canadian housing prices saw the sharpest rise in 10 years

Sharp spike came amid a year of political and financial upheaval

CREA data: Canadian housing prices saw the sharpest rise in 10 years
Amid crucial political developments worldwide and the passage of federal measures intended to improve affordability, 2016 has proven to be a year of flux for the Canadian housing sector, as was most starkly illustrated by the latest information from the CREA.
 
In an analysis by the Better Dwelling blog, the national average price of Canadian composite homes saw a 14.4 per cent rise over the past year, up to $581,400. This represented the fastest pace of price growth in the previous 10 years, almost reaching the 2006 heights of 14.43 per cent.
 
A major contributor to this development is the sustained performance of the country’s two hottest real estate markets, the CREA data revealed. Last year, the Vancouver composite home price average broke through the $908,300 level, while Toronto’s reached $689,100.
 
Meanwhile, Calgary continued to suffer from Alberta’s sluggish economy (especially in the wake of the recent oil price crashes and the Fort McMurray conflagration last year), with prices in the city declining by an average of 3.97 per cent.
 
Moncton exhibited the lowest average costs by the end of last year, increasing only up to $163,400.
 

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