Canadian house prices rise in December, driven by 1.3% increase in Vancouver

According to the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, providing data on changes in repeat sales of homes, Canadian house prices rose 0.2% during December.

The increase in house prices last month follows a decline for the three consecutive months prior to December.

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However, although national house prices did rise according to the index, this was only actually evident in 5 of the 11 cities surveyed, largely driven by a 1.3% rise in Vancouver, continuing to live up to its name as Canada’s most expensive housing market.

Vancouver’s house prices have risen rapidly since the city introduced a 15% foreign buyers tax in 2016, driven by an ever-increasing demand for high-rise condo apartments.

On the other hand, Toronto saw a fifth straight month of falling house prices, dropping a further 0.3% throughout December.

Although Canadian house prices did increase during December, the 0.2% is a relatively small increase compared to the 9.2% national rise throughout 2017.

As a result of the high rise in house prices, the Bank of Canada raised interest rates twice last year, with further hikes expected in the near future.