Vancouver and Toronto threw a wet blanket on growth in national home prices in March.
Prices increased in 11 out of 13 cities last month compared with the same month a year prior, according to the RPS-Wahi home price index released Monday.
And while prices in March grew three per cent across the nation, prices dipped one per cent in Vancouver and remained flat in Toronto.
Quebec City saw the strongest gains with a yearly increase of 16 per cent, followed by Montreal and Saskatoon at nine per cent each. Winnipeg and Edmonton tied at eight per cent.
The March index, created by real estate sales platform Wahi Inc. and property valuation service Real Property Solutions, marked a decline from February, when the index was up four per cent annually.
Monday’s national report found single-family detached homes to be leading the way in price jumps in March, spiking five per cent on an annual basis. Condos saw a drop of five per cent.
Semi-detached homes and townhouses increased in price by two per cent and three per cent, respectively.
The report said uncertainty over ongoing global trade conflicts has likely rattled would-be homebuyers.
Worries about job security and the economy at large are among the factors eroding consumer sentiment, with the RPS-Wahi report citing a recent survey from the Conference Board of Canada think tank that found more than two-thirds of Canadians agree it’s a bad time to make a big-ticket purchase.
