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Posthaste: Buyer's remorse? Homeowners in these cities are counting their losses Back to video

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Safe as houses, they say — just not so much lately.

Many homebuyers who took the plunge a year ago have watched the value of their property tick lower through 2023.

Not all, mind you. A comparison of home prices in 67 cities in Canada between December 2022 and 2023 done by Canadian real estate site Point2 revealed that owners of single-family homes in 18 cities and condo owners in 26 cities have seen their homes lose value this past year.

“Last year showed that a real estate investment can sometimes backfire,” said the Point2 report. “This means Canada’s newest owners from these unlucky cities might have to wait more than others to build wealth.”

Predictably, prices have dropped the most in regions that saw crazy gains during the pandemic housing boom.

Topping the losses is Burlington, Ontario. Anyone who bought a single-family home here at the end of 2022 lost $163 a day for the next year, stripping almost $60,000 off what they paid for it, said the report.

Owners in Kitchener, Mississauga, and Markham also took a hit, losing $39,850, $41,740 and $56,043, respectively, off the value of their home over the year.

“Percentage-wise, the decreases in home prices in these cities might seem benign, coming close to a meagre 5 per cent,” said the report. “But, that percentage drop translates to a more hard-hitting net amount, especially considering the tough market conditions during which these owners took the plunge.”

Condo owners in many cities are worse off than single-family homeowners.

“With 26 markets seeing year-over-year price drops for condos, the price correction for this segment is even more generalized,” said the report. “What is considered the more affordable housing option got progressively cheaper, putting condo owners’ equity hopes on standby.”

Condo owners in Mississauga, Ont. were hit the hardest, losing $100 a day throughout 2023, wiping out $36,000 in value off the purchase price.

Victoria, B.C. and Barrie, Ont. condo owners lost $28,250 and $28,000, respectively.

The biggest percentage drops were in Lethbridge, Alberta, where condo prices fell 6.1 per cent and London, Ont., where they dropped 6 per cent.

Not everyone lost money last year. Prices in Vancouver, home to Canada’s most expensive real estate, continued to climb 9 per cent over last year, meaning a homeowner who bought a single-family at the end of 2022 gained $572 a day, or $208,858 in value by December 2023.

Homeowers in Calgary and Red Deer, Alberta, Surrey and Coquitlam, B.C., Quebec City and Sudbury, Ont. also saw substantial gains on single-family homes. Even in Toronto, the value of a home rose $5,523 over the year.

Condo owners in Coquitlam, B.C., Halifax, Richmond, B.C. and Calgary saw the value of their units increase by more than $50,000 in just one year.

And the tide may be turning, said Point2. In November home values were falling in 25 large cities but a bounce in the housing market in December cut that number to 18.

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The value of building permits might sound like dry stuff but it can also offer a glimpse at the state of the housing market. Canada desperately needs more living spaces, but today’s chart doesn’t offer much encouragement. Building permits plunged in the fourth quarter in almost all of Canada’s major markets.

Nationally, building permit values fell 9 per cent from the previous quarter and almost 2 per cent from the year before. This past quarter had the lowest quarterly value since the third quarter of 2021.

The data, released this week, are one reason National Bank economists continue to expect an economic contraction in 2024 and that the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates before markets are expecting.

• The government of Canada holds a national summit on combatting auto theft today. The crime has become a nation-wide problem with thefts in Ontario and Quebec surging over 50 per cent.
• The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board hosts its 2024 Market Outlook and Year in Review event.
• Flair Airlines chief executive Stephen Jones will hold a press conference to present a review of 2023 and predictions and goals for Flair and the Canadian airline industry in 2024.
• Today’s Data: U.S. jobless claims
• Earnings: BCE Inc, Cameco, Sun Life Financial Inc ConocoPhillips, Thomson-Reuters Corp, Lightspeed Commerce Inc, Cineplex Inc, Aurora Cannabis Inc, Bombardier Inc, Brookfield Corp, Saputo Inc.

Get all of today’s top breaking stories as they happen with the Financial Post’s live news blog, highlighting the business headlines you need to know at a glance.

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“Invest in preparedness; not in prediction,” Lebanese-American essayist and mathematical statistician Nassim Taleb once said. With this in mind, portfolio manager Robert Gill helps prepare us by examining five key attributes that should be considered to make successful stock investments. Read more in FP Investing

* * *

Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you wondering how to make ends meet? Drop us a line at aholloway@postmedia.com with your contact info and the general gist of your problem and we’ll try to find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we’ll keep your name out of it, of course). If you have a simpler question, the crack team at FP Answers led by Julie Cazzin or one of our columnists can give it a shot.

McLister on mortgages

Flummoxed by the mortgage market? Robert McLister is here to help. Today, the Financial Post is launching a new column by the mortgage strategist that will help our readers navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to complex financing opportunities they won’t want to miss. To kick it off, Rob runs down the 10 things he’ll be watching most closely this year, from the rate-cut waiting game to the rise of the six-month mortgage and more.

Read it here

Today’s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven, with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.

Have a story idea, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this newsletter? Email us at posthaste@postmedia.com.

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