Summary
- In Canada, the housing market correction got under way much later than in the United States and lasted nowhere as long (8 vs. 33 months). In fact, it seemed like a consequence of the economic recession, rather than the cause of it as in the United States.
- At the national level, existing-home price indices calculated with the repeat-sales method registered a price decline of 8.9% in Canada (Teranet – National Bank Index), against 32.6% in the United States (S&P/Case-Shiller Index).
- In Canada, the housing market correction had a strong regional flavour, having struck most heavily in Ontario (auto industry) and in Western Canada (slowdown in energy and forest products sectors). Further east, prices have already gained back the ground lost to the correction. In the United States, none of the 20 metropolitan areas covered by the Case-Shiller Index has seen prices return to their pre-correction level.
