Canadian homeowners face declining property values: Point2 study reveals significant losses

Many of those who bought a single-family home in 2022 may be dealing with a rude awakening of their investment losing value as of last year.

Point2 analyzed 67 Canadian cities and found the values of single-family homes in 18 of them, along with condominiums in 26, were lower year-over-year.

These Ontario cities faced the biggest losses

The report shows that single-family homeowners who bought at the end of 2022 lost $163 every day for a year — meaning, their home is now worth nearly $60,000 less than what they paid.

New condominium owners in Mississauga were hit the hardest in this housing type, losing about $100 per day or $36,600 in total value. Kitchener and Markham came close to this.

Other parts of Canada took a hit

While Ontario cities faced the biggest losses for single-family homeowners, other Canadian cities were affected similarly, namely those in Kelowna, British Columbia, Victoria, B.C. and Regina, Saskatchewan.

Current buyers’ market with no buyers: “A very healthy correction”

Not so long before, these very locations were growing strong. Now, Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC World Markets calls them areas of “very healthy correction”, the report notes. In an interview for BNN Bloomberg, he states:

“We have more supply and less demand. This is becoming a buyers’ market — a buyers’ market with no buyers … It’s a very weak market. A dearth of listings had previously been propping prices up, but listings have increased as high interest rates and other costs put pressure on homeowners.

Prices went up by 45 per cent over the course of breakfast during COVID-19, so what you’re seeing now is a very healthy correction.”

On top of this, the report notes that Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) data from as early as October show an activity slowdown, with no signs of changing until spring.

All hope not lost

Contrary to the severe losses faced by many Canadian homeowners, five B.C. cities saw increased values by over $100,000, some over $200,000. These were Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Langley and Delta.

As well, condominiums in Coquitlam, B.C., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Richmond, B.C. and Calgary, Alberta saw earnings of over $50,000 from 2022 to 2023.