Home prices across Canada show signs of topping out, real estate association says

OTTAWA — Canadian home prices appear to be topping out, according to a monthly survey from the Canadian Real Estate Association, Canada's largest realtor group.

Prices rose in February at the slowest pace since June 2011 — up 5.1 per cent year-over-year — marking the fourth consecutive month in which gains eased, CREA said.

The fact that prices rose only 1.1 per cent from the previous month added to the argument, said Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist.

"The rate at which prices are growing has been slowing for some months now," said Klump. "The monthly price increase in February this year was less than what we saw in either of the past two years, which is more evidence that the trend for Canadian home prices is slowing.

February is normally one of the busiest months for real estate, Klump added, "however, price increases have generally been getting smaller, and trends suggest that price increases will continue to shrink."

Price gains decelerated in all housing categories except two-storey homes, single-family homes.

Toronto posted the largest price annual increase at 7.3 per cent, although momentum there also continued to ebb, CREA said. Prices also moderated in Calgary and Montreal at rates of 2.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.