The selloff in real estate has morphed beyond a correction of overheated individual markets into a broad national slump, with prices posting their worst decline in nearly 20 years in November.
In the face of a collapse in consumer confidence, the number of resale homes sold in Canada plummeted by 42 per cent year-to-year to 27,743, the lowest level since January, 2001.
Between May and November, the average price of an existing home in Canada fell by 11 per cent, matching the drop in 1990 that coincided with the onset of a painful recession. Housing prices would go on to fall by about 20 per cent and it would be another decade before they managed to make new highs.
All markets across Canada will likely fall further in the coming months as confidence continues to fade, said Benjamin Tal, economist at CIBC World Markets.
