House prices to hit record this year, but rate of increase to slow, Scotiabank says
Eric Lam, Financial Post
Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Canadian home prices will reach a record high this year, but those expecting the sky-high house price increases of the past decade to continue will be disappointed, a Bank of Nova Scotia real-estate expert said yesterday. "It's time to reset price expectations for the Canadian housing market," Adrienne Warren, senior economist with Scotiabank, said at a real-estate conference in Toronto. "This was an exceptional decade for pricing." Looking at the past 50 years, prices on average rose between 2% and 2.5% each decade. But prices rose an average of 5.2% between 2000 and 2009, she said, which led to the current elevated pricing conditions. As for this year, Ms. Warren still anticipates a strong spring sales market as consumers try to take advantage of rock-bottom interest rates before an expected rate hike by the Bank of Canada in the summer.
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