Canadian house prices have outpaced most developed countries, CMHC finds

The finding

House prices in Canada have more than doubled since 2005, faster than in most developed countries, according to research from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

New residents per home completed, 2023 and 2024

5 residents

Record population growth far outpaced new construction, with nearly five new residents for each housing completion in 2023 and 2024.

Canada's housing challenge isn't just that home prices rose. It's that demand grew faster than supply for longer than in many comparable countries.

— Aled ab Iorwerth, CMHC deputy chief economist

Prices dipped modestly during the 2008-09 recession, then kept rising rapidly for more than a decade, while in the United States they plunged.

And us?

The affordability problem began in Vancouver in the early 2000s, reached Toronto in the early 2010s, then spread to Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and other cities.