![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/housing-canada.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto:\u00a0Dennis Jarvis\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n An economist with one of Canada\u2019s biggest banks says the country\u2019s real estate market is “set for a slog” this year, but nothing worse.<\/p>\n TD Senior Economist Brian DePratto outlines two main factors why the Canadian housing market isn\u2019t hurtling towards a crash.<\/p>\n “So, why not a worse outlook, or even an outright crash? Two reasons: first, fundamental demand is still strong, particularly in key markets,” writes DePratto in a recent TD Economics report<\/a> on the prospects of a Canadian recession.<\/p>\n\n These fundamentals include strong population growth, a key driver of housing demand. In fact, Canadian population growth reached new heights last year, and the federal government continues to set historically high targets for future immigration<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Second, the change in tone from both the Bank of Canada… provides some additional market sentiment support in the form of lower than previously expected borrowing costs,” he continues.<\/p>\n The central bank has been gradually increasing its policy rate, which influences mortgages, since summer 2017. But appears poised for a less-aggressive approach this year in the face of weaker-than-expected GDP growth.<\/p>\n Growth of 1.2 percent had been forecast for the fourth quarter, but the economy ended up expanding by 0.4 percent over that period, notes Capital Economics, an economic research firm.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the basis of this latest set of woeful GDP figures, the Bank of Canada must surely be considering following the [US] Fed and abandoning any talk of further interest rate hikes at\u2026 [the next] policy meeting,\u201d writes Paul Ashworth, the firm\u2019s chief North American economist, in a note<\/a>.<\/p>\n