Canada’s Most Expensive Housing Market Poised for 2021 Rebound

(Bloomberg) -- The most expensive housing market in Canada is ready to surge after three years of stagnation.

In Greater Vancouver, where the average home costs just over C$1 million (roughly $783,000), prices will rise 9% in 2021, according to a forecast from brokerage Royal LePage.

That’s a sharp rebound after three years when benchmark Vancouver home prices gained just 0.5% as local government efforts to rein in housing costs took hold, data from the Canadian Real Estate Association show.

Prices in Vancouver will be driven up in 2021 as first-time buyers try to get into the market and demand for housing outstrips supply, according to Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage.

“We’re dealing with not just a few weeks of pent-up demand in Vancouver, we’re dealing with three years of pent-up demand,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has fueled a rally in Canadian home prices, as low interest rates and demand for more space drive a buying frenzy. A tight supply of available properties has helped drive up prices. That trend is expected to continue next year.

Nationally, homes prices will jump 5.5% next year, with most of Canada’s largest cities out pacing that rate of growth, according to Royal LePage.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.