This Week’s Top Stories: Canada’s National Housing Agency Sees Falling Prices In Big Cities, and Ontario Sees Outflow of Residents

Time for your cheatsheet on this week’s most important stories.

Canadian Real Estate

Canada’s National Housing Agency Forecasts Price Drops In Toronto And Vancouver
Canada’s national housing agency sees prices potentially falling in major markets. Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal are all forecasted to be lower than they were last month. Some markets like Vancouver aren’t expected to see higher prices, even in a best case scenario.
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Ontario Sees Biggest Outflow Of Residents Since 2015, While BC And Quebec See Inflows
More Ontario residents are leaving the province than arriving. The first quarter of 2020 is the first time more people left the province than arrived, since 2015. Both B.C. and Quebec are heading in the opposite direction. Quebec is seeing a net-gain of interprovincial migrants for the first time in decades.
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Major Canadian Real Estate Markets That Reopened See Inventory Explode Higher
Canadian real estate markets that have seen pandemic measures lifted are seeing new listings soar. The seasonally adjusted SNLR for Canada fell to 58.8% in May, down 4.5% from a month before. As soon as markets like Montreal had their restrictions lifted, new listings nearly tripled. Sales did not follow.
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RBC: Toronto Real Estate Affordability Is Worse, Vancouver Makes Biggest Improvement
Canada’s largest bank is seeing improved affordability, but the country still isn’t affordable. The median household would need to spend 50.5% of their income in Q1 2020, up 0.2 points from the previous quarter. Although that’s down 0.3 points from a quarter before. Most markets have seen mild improvements to affordability, with Toronto being a notable exception.
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Most Of Canada’s Major Real Estate Markets Have Softened Since The Pandemic
The pandemic has slowed down both buyers and sellers, but one isn’t returning as quickly. Only three markets across Canada have seen sales rise faster than inventory since February. Analysts and economists forecast this scenario will intensify once pandemic rules have been lifted. So far, this has been observed in two markets that have reopened, Montreal and Vancouver.
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Toronto Real Estate

Greater Toronto New Home Sales Dive To Lowest Level On Record
New home sales in Greater Toronto have taken a nosedive. There were just 865 new home sales in May, down 81% from last year. This shifted the sales to active listings ratio to a new low for May. Fewer than 10% of listings were sold.
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