Calgary house price gains lag other major centres

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald March 24, 2012

Calgary house price gains from last year were slower than other national centres in February, according to a report released Friday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The MLS Home Price Index, of five major cities and municipalities, showed prices in Calgary were up 2.53 per cent from a year ago while they rose 5.08 per cent across the country on an aggregate basis.
However, prices nationally and in Calgary were up 1.07 per cent each from the month before.
CREA said year-over-year comparisons in those five centres continued shrinking, “providing further evidence that Canadian home price growth may be topping out.”
Toronto posted the largest increase at 7.3 per cent followed by Greater Vancouver at 6.03 per cent, the Lower Mainland at 5.48 per cent, the Fraser Valley at 4.06 per cent, Calgary, and Montreal at 1.58 per cent.
“MLS HPI trends for February show that home price growth is generally slowing,” said Gary Morse, CREA’s president, in a statement.
The MLS HPI is based on single family, townhouse/row unit, and apartment unit sales activity in Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Calgary, Greater Montreal, and Greater Toronto.
“The index typically rises in February from the previous month as demand ramps up leading into the spring housing market,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist. “The monthly price increase in February this year was less than what we saw in either of the past two years, which is more evidence that the trend for Canadian home prices is slowing.”