The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation says there is now 鈥渟trong evidence鈥� of problematic conditions in both Vancouver and Toronto housing markets, in a report that also highlights real estate overvaluation across the country.
鈥淲e now have sufficient evidence to raise our overall assessment of problematic conditions in the Vancouver market to high,鈥� the released Wednesday.
Evidence of problematic conditions in Canada鈥檚 housing market as a whole has increased from weak to moderate since the last CMHC report.
The corporation says that overvaluation and overbuilding are still the main issues observed in 15 different housing markets across Canada.
鈥淔or Canada overall, we now detect strong evidence of overvaluation,鈥� CMHC鈥檚 chief economist, Bob Dugan, said in a news release.
鈥淎s a result, our overall assessment has moved from weak to moderate since the last report. Moreover, the greater range of evidence of problematic conditions in Vancouver has led us to conclude that there is now strong evidence of problematic conditions in our overall assessment of the Vancouver housing market.鈥�
The latest , which serves as an 鈥渆arly warning system鈥� for emerging problems, says that accelerated growth in housing prices is concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario.
鈥淭his effect is only partially counter-balanced by weaknesses in the oil-dependent provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador,鈥� the report says.
Despite the lower prices in Calgary, Saskatoon and Regina housing markets, the HMA still noted strong evidence of problematic conditions, caused by overbuilding.
There is 鈥渨eak鈥� evidence of problematic conditions in Ottawa and the Maritimes, the assessment said.
