![\"canada](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/canada-housing-market-resilient.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Andrik Langfield<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nMassive job losses. Declining immigration. Fewer international students in the country.<\/p>\n
There was no shortage of reasons to be pessimistic about the Canadian housing market\u2019s chances of avoiding a major hit through these last few months as the COVID-19 pandemic rampaged across the globe.<\/p>\n
But, in a recent research note, RBC Global Asset Management Chief Economist Eric Lascelles sounded thoroughly impressed with the housing market on both sides of the border, noting they had proved \u201cmore resilient than expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The economist said the performance of Canada\u2019s housing market was all the more impressive when considering its \u201cgreater underlying vulnerabilities.\u201d While Lascelles didn\u2019t elaborate on these vulnerabilities, one would assume he\u2019s alluding to Canadians\u2019 notoriously large household debt loads and relatively high use of mortgage deferrals compared to rates south of the border.<\/p>\n
Despite all that working against it, Lascelles says that so far this summer, Canada\u2019s housing market has seen resale home prices increase 12 percent compared to a year ago with home sales activity also on the rise versus 2019. New home construction is still trending \u201cin the realm of normal\u201d even with the widespread shutdowns that affected homebuilding to various degrees across the country through the spring.<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s no doubt that there was more than a hint of optimism in Lascelles\u2019 writing, the economist remains guarded about the road ahead as we move into the fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for all of this happy news, the final page has not yet been written on the housing market. As government support fades, delinquencies and foreclosures may rise, resulting in greater weakness later. Still, we only look for a modest decline rather than a steep drop,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
In a recent interview with the Financial Post, Royal LePage President Phil Soper said the brokerage is projecting a relatively modest 2.5 percent increase to national home prices by the end of 2020.<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t be a great year, but Soper does not anticipate that any of the \u201cdoom and gloom\u201d scenarios that some have prophesied will come to fruition.<\/p>\n
There was no shortage of reasons to be pessimistic about the Canadian housing market\u2019s chances of avoiding a major hit through these last few months as the COVID-19 pandemic rampaged across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":206394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2020-08-05T12:59:37Z","apple_news_api_id":"a02dc58b-59dd-4917-a839-2954f6047c15","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2020-08-05T12:59:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AoC3Fi1ndSReoOSlU9gR8FQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/u48r14.digitalhub.com\/sections\/09b86915-7d2b-3acd-915b-b215002d01b7"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11269],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8652],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n