CMHC Housing Market Assessment | Q4 Report

Talking about the “Canadian Housing Market” can be a lot like asking the question “What’s the weather like in Canada today?” This is because like the weather, housing markets are very local. It can be sunny and plus 21 in one city and 100 kms away it can be minus 8 and snowing. Same with housing, even within a city, certain areas can be “hot” while others “cold”.

The Canadian Mortgage And Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently released their Quarter 4 2015 Housing Market Assessment for Canada. They have taken data from 15 different cities and compiled a report so although it’s not comprehensive by any means, it does get a good overview. The main summary:

“Nationally, there remains moderate evidence of overvaluation, reflective of a variety of price conditions across the country with some CMAs showing more signs of overvaluation than others. Notably, evidence of overvaluation is now detected in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. CMHC’s framework also detects evidence of other problematic conditions such as overheating, acceleration in house prices, and overbuilding of varying degrees across CMAs.”

If you want to get really focused, CMHC has a tool on their website that allows you to go in depth with housing statistics, might be worth a quick peruse, if perusing housing statistics is your thing!

Here is the full report for your viewing pleasure:

CMHC Housing Market 2015_Q04