Hamilton forecasted to see largest housing price increase in 2017

December 8th, 2016  |  Home

Real estate giant Re/Max has just released its 2017 Canadian housing market outlook, and the main takeaway is that housing price increases aren't expected to cool down next year—especially those in Hamilton. 'Steeltown' will reportedly see an 11 per cent rise in sale prices for the the average home in the region.

Right behind Hamilton are the Greater Toronto Area and Kitchener-Waterloo, which are both forecasted to experience eight per cent growth in that department. In 2016 the Toronto housing market was overrun with price/availability-issues, ranging from the presence of Airbnb rental properties to both foreign and domestic speculators.

Vancouver was the other major Canadian metropolitan area that faced a housing affordability crisis in 2016, but Re/Max's market outlook sees less of a steep price increase happening in the year ahead. It is only expected to go up by only about two per cent, a significantly smaller number that is likely shaped by the foreign buyer tax that the province of British Columbia introduced this summer and the federal government's tightening of mortgage rules that came shortly after.

Alberta's struggling oil market was a major factor that kept housing prices in the province fairly steady in 2016. According to the market outlook, that shouldn't change much in 2017.

Montreal, on the other hand, which saw just a minor increase in sale prices this past year, is expected to go up now by six per cent. It is also a city that has a high inventory of housing, along with places like St. John's, Regina, and St. John.