![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/toronto-1980.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: City of Toronto Archives<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n New analysis from a leading economist puts the recent Canadian housing downturn in perspective by comparing it to previous booms and busts of the last 30 years.<\/p>\n One big takeaway: the market has taken a big spill since 2017, but it\u2019s nowhere near the depths reached at the turn of the \u201880s.<\/p>\n\n \u201cAgain, activity is well above the deep troughs of the early 1980s and early 1990s (when borrowing costs were well into the double digits),\u201d writes Douglas Porter, BMO\u2019s chief economist, in a note.<\/p>\n \u201cBut recent sales activity is also a long way from the twin peaks of the 2005\u20132007 and 2015\u201317 booms,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n To reach this conclusion, Porter looks at the ratio of Canadian existing home sales totals to the labour force population for each year dating back to 1980.<\/p>\n