OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian home prices were flat in October from September as a slowdown in housing sales weighed, although a limited supply of homes for sale could lead to fresh price escalation, data showed on Wednesday.
The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which tracks repeat sales of single-family homes in 11 major Canadian markets, remained unchanged in October from the previous month. Price growth has been slowing for the last five months.
“The slowdown in price growth can be linked to the slowdown in housing sales reported in recent months,” Daren King, an economist at National Bank of Canada, said in a statement.
“However, prices could start to rise again in the coming months given the very limited supply of properties for sale.”
Seven of the 11 major markets rose, led by a 0.9% gain in Hamilton, Ontario. Prices were flat in Winnipeg and fell in Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa-Gatineau.
On an annual basis, the index was up 15.8%, decelerating for the second consecutive month after it notched record annual growth in August. Halifax led the annual index with a 30.3% gain, while Hamilton registered a 26.5% gain.
Canada’s real estate agents on Monday reported higher home sales and prices in October from September, with hot buyer demand outpacing available supply.
(Reporting by Julie Gordon; Editing by Dan Grebler)
