The average price of a Canadian home increased by more than 8% in the 12 months up to October and is now worth $454,976, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday.
But as has been the case for a while, the national average is being skewed higher by red hot markets in Toronto and Vancouver. If those two cities are stripped out, the average house sold for $339,059 and the year-over-year gain is reduced to 2.5%.
Outside of prices, the volume of sales was also up. It was the second-busiest October for home sales since 2009, the real estate group said.
Beneath the headline, however, many housing market watchers see weakness.
Sales in places heavily depending on the energy sector are "incredibly weak," TD Bank economist Diana Petramala said, with sales down 36.2% year-over-year in Calgary, 16.3% in Edmonton, 12.3% in Regina and 21.8% in Saskatoon.
"Home prices have also started to tumble in these markets, and were down the most in Calgary (down by 4.4%) and Regina (down by 4.6%)," Petramala said.
Indeed, despite the strong headline gain caused by B.C. and Ontario, five provinces -- Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador -- saw house prices decline on an annual basis.
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