Royal LePage cuts home price forecast for 2022

Royal LePage is cutting its expectations for the growth in home prices this year after it says prices in the second quarter fell compared with the first three months of the year.

The real estate brokerage says it now expects the aggregate price of a home in Canada in the fourth quarter of this year will be up 5.0 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2021.

The forecast is down from an April estimate for a 15.0 per cent year-over-year increase for the fourth quarter.

It says it lowered the forecast following more aggressive than expected interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada, resulting in an expected temporary drop in demand in parts of southern Ontario and British Columbia.