CMHC names "vulnerable" cities

May 7 2018



What does Hamilton have in common with Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto?
There are all cities where the residential industry has a “high degree of vulnerability” according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s (CMHC) latest Housing Market Assessment.
Similar to other vulnerable centres, CMHC suggested Hamilton shows evidence of price acceleration and over-evaluation.
However, Hamilton has hope. “Fundamental drivers remain very supportive of housing demand, while house prices were either down slightly or steady in recent quarters,” CMHC stated.
As for Toronto, the recent cooling of the housing market has not changed CMHC’s vulnerability rating. “Moderate price increases would have to persist longer in order for us to discount any evidence of price acceleration,” the agency noted.
“We continue to detect high evidence of over-evaluation in the Toronto CMA.”
CMHC noted, however, that the number of newly completed and unsold homes has declined to 0.98 units per 100,000 residents, the lowest level ever recorded.
Both Victoria and Vancouver “have a high degree of vulnerability” with “strong evidence of over-evaluation,” according to CMHC, while the two cities with the lowest degree of vulnerability in the first quarter were Winnipeg and Ottawa.