Average home prices across Canada’s largest housing markets fell slightly in August, marking the eighth month-over-month drop in the last nine, according to a report released Thursday. The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which includes price data from the country’s 11 largest cities and their respective metropolitan areas, fell 0.2 per cent from July to August. Last month’s drop follows a slight uptick of 0.1 per cent in July, according to the report. “This contraction marks the eighth decline in nine months, pushing prices down 4.2 per cent from their most recent peak in November 2025 and to their lowest level since April 2023,” Daren King, an economist with the Economics & Strategy Group of National Bank of Canada, wrote in the report. Taken individually, six of the 11 markets included in the index saw average home prices decline in August, according to the report. Prices in Vancouver fell 1.6 per cent last month compared to July, while prices in Halifax (-0.6 per cent), Ottawa-Gatineau (-0.15 per cent), Winnipeg (-0.3 per cent), Hamilton (-0.3 per cent), and Edmonton (‑0.1 per cent) also fell. Meanwhile, average home prices rose in Victoria (+0.5 per cent), Quebec City (+0.4 per cent), Toronto (+0.4 per cent), Montreal (+0.3 per cent), and Calgary (+0.2 per cent). Follows ‘recovery in activity’ The upswing in the index in July was part of a broad but modest recovery in housing market activity during the spring and summer, the report said, though August’s decline may signal a slowdown ahead. “The price increase in July capped a recovery in activity observed in the resale housing market during the spring and summer, which was driven by a significant improvement in the labour market over that period and in housing affordability conditions,” the report said. “However, home sales began to decline again in August, which had a negative impact on price trends, while the upswing in the job market appears to be fading.” On a year-over-year basis, the index fell 3.6 per cent from August 2025 to August of this year - a larger annual drop than the 3.2 per cent decline recorded in July. “[Year-over-year] declines were recorded in seven of the 11 cities that make up the composite index in July,” the report noted. “Vancouver led the way with a 6.5 per cent year-over-year price decrease, followed by Hamilton (-6.2 per cent) and Toronto (-6.1 per cent). Conversely, the sharpest increases were seen in Quebec City (+9.0 per cent), Montreal (+4.1 per cent), and Winnipeg (+2.4 per cent). The report said that housing affordability “is expected to deteriorate over the coming quarters,” likely putting further pressure on home prices across the country. “Indeed, the sharp rise in U.S. bond yields has pushed Canadian bond yields higher. Although the impact on mortgage rates has been limited so far, higher financing costs are expected in the coming weeks for households looking to take out a mortgage,” it said. “This increase will therefore limit their borrowing capacity and weigh on price growth.”
