Royal LePage slashes its 2022 home price forecast to 5% growth amid inflation-led dip
Global News
The average price of a home in Canada dipped this past quarter for the first time since early 2019, according to a new report from Royal LePage.
The average price of a home in Canada has dipped for the first time since early 2019, according to a new report, prompting Royal LePage to slash its national real estate outlook amid rising interest rates and economic uncertainty.
The latest House Price Survey released Wednesday found that while the aggregate price of a home is up 12 per cent annually compared to the second quarter of 2021, at $815,000, that price is actually down 4.9 per cent from the record-breaking first quarter of this year. The company said this marks the first quarter-to-quarter decline since the first quarter of 2019.
Because of that, Royal LePage has lowered its annual forecast to estimate home prices will rise by just five per cent this year — down from the 15 per cent it predicted just three months ago.
“The peak was unexpectedly strong in the first quarter, and the slowdown in the second quarter was also unanticipated,” Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper said in an interview with Global News.
“So like everything economic during this pandemic era, we are scrambling to keep up with the changes and the pace of change.”
The change also reflects the softening real estate markets in the greater Toronto and Vancouver areas, which saw prices explode during the COVID-19 pandemic and remain high.
The average price for a home dipped 8.1 per cent in Toronto from last quarter, to $1,167,000, and 4.1 per cent in Vancouver to $1,311,000. Both prices are up by an average of 10 per cent compared to the same time last year, however.
While those markets are expected to stay relatively flat through the rest of the year, house prices in Montreal are still expected to grow 12.5 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to 2021, while other major urban markets will see increases close to 10 per cent.
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