Significant employment and income declines, coupled with uncertainty over the future trajectory of the virus and employment and income conditions, will lower demand for housing in 2020. The Housing Market Outlook — Special Edition (HMO) released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) forecasts housing starts, sales and prices for Canada’s major housing markets are likely to remain below their pre-COVID-19 levels over the forecast period. The precise timing and speed of the recovery in major markets is highly uncertain and will vary considerably.
Building on the release of CMHC’s HMO on May 27, 2020, which provided housing forecasts for Canada and the Provinces, this report provides projections for housing activity in Canada’s largest urban centres until the end of 2022: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. A backgrounder with full details for each market is at the end of this release.