Real estate is propping up Canada's economy as oil has taken a tumble.
Canada's Gross Domestic Product fell the last month in which Statistics Canada had numbers, but the real estate sector has kept growing, so much so that it represents approximately half of the country's economic growth, according to at least one expert.
Canada's economy fell by 0.6% in May, representing the "largest monthly decline since May 2009," according to StatsCan. was attributed to falling oil extraction in the oilsands, which was due to a wildfire that took production offline in Fort McMurray.
Housing, however, grew by 0.1% in May, a trend that was largely due to "higher output from lessors of real estate."
StatsCan takes account of real estate by using a concept known as "imputed rent," which calculates a home's value by showing how much it would cost to rent an owner-occupied property.
The sector represented approximately 13.2% of Canada's economy in May, up from 12.6% from two years ago.
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