Canadian home prices in Q4 down year-over-year, first decline since end of 2008: report

The aggregate price of a home in Halifax decreased 3.3% year-over-year to $469,000 in Q4 of 2022

Canadian Press with files from CityNews Halifax

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TORONTO — A report by Royal LePage says the median price of a home in Canada in the fourth quarter of 2022 posted the first year-over-year decline since the end of 2008 during the financial crisis.

In its house price survey, the real estate company says the median aggregate price of a home was $757,100 in the final quarter of last year, down 2.8 per cent compared with the end of 2021.

Royal LePage says the aggregate price was down 2.3 per cent on a quarter-over-quarter basis to mark the third consecutive quarterly decline.

Home prices fell in 2022 as mortgage rates pushed higher, driven by the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes to fight inflation.

However, Royal LePage noted that home prices remain above pre-pandemic levels.

It says the national aggregate home price in the fourth quarter of 2022 was up 13.8 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2020 and 17.2 per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Halifax highlights include:

• Aggregate price of a home decreased 3.3% year-over-year to $469,000 in Q4 of 2022
• Median price of single-family detached home decreased 2.7% year-over-year to $528,100 in Q4 of 2022
• Median price of a condominium increased 1.4% year-over-year to $394,100 in Q4 of 2022
• Aggregate price of a home in Halifax forecast to increase 0.5% year-over-year in Q4 2023

“Home sales in the Halifax region remain comparatively low. Competition began to diminish in late summer and the trend continued into the fourth quarter, as buyers and sellers held off on making a move in this rising interest rate environment to reevaluate their personal finances,” said Matt Honsberger, broker and owner, Royal LePage Atlantic in news release.

“Buyers with the luxury of time have been waiting for property prices to drop further, while sellers are waiting in the wings for buyers to come back to the table. This market gridlock is causing a slowdown in activity, but I predict that this trend will subside in the spring, if the interest rate hikes slow or come to an end.”