Canadian home prices climbed 5.2 percent in April from a year earlier, boosted by strong gains in the Toronto market as well as increases in Vancouver and Calgary, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Friday.
The MLS Home Price Index stood at 154.7 in April, up 5.2 percentage points nationally from a year ago and up 1.18 points from March..
Toronto had the biggest year-to-year jump while Calgary led the country on a month-to-month basis.
“Canadian home price gains are generally expected to moderate, but there are a few hot spots where prices are being fuelled by some strong housing market fundamentals,” association president Wayne Moen said in a news release.
The rise in Vancouver compared with a 5.3 percent increase in March. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters he welcomed signs that the Vancouver market, Canada's most expensive, is cooling.
"There's also some moderation in the housing market, which is the major source of indebtedness for most people in Canada - the mortgages on their homes; some moderation on the West Coast in Vancouver," Flaherty said in a statement. "I'm not seeing that kind of moderation in the Toronto market yet."
Household debt in Canada reached record levels of more than 150 per cent of disposable income last year, close to the 160 per cent mark that preceded the housing collapse in the United States.
