May 25, 2010
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp Outlook
House prices will increase this year and next, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said on May 19. An “improved balance between demand and supply” will stabilize prices through the rest of this year,” CMHC said in its Q2 Housing Market Outlook. Prices will “rise modestly” in 2011, it said. CMHC said the average cost of a home by the end of 2011 should be $350,000, a gain of 1.4% over April’s record high of $344,968. CMHC senior economist Bill Clark said, “There was a big April gain in employment, and as the economy gets moving again people become more interested in housing.” CMHC attributed much of the recent sales activity to pent-up demand, as buyers returned to the market after sitting out during the recession. “Once this demand is exhausted, and as mortgage rates gradually rise, the pace of activity in the resale market will ease,” CMHC economist Bob Dugan said.
