House Price Index Indicates Prices are Still Falling

Here is what the press release says:

More deflation, Montreal holding up best Canadian home prices in March were down 5.8% from a year earlier, according to the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index™. It was the fourth consecutive 12-month decline. March was also the seventh straight month in which the composite index was down from the month before - the longest run of monthly declines since the beginning of index coverage in February 2000. The composite is now down 8.5% from its peak of last August. Teranet – National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ Contact Us For general enquiries: simon.cote@tres.bnc.ca For licenses covering all index-linked products, please contact: Simon Côté simon.cote@tres.bnc.ca  514 879-5379 Website www.housepriceindex.ca

Of the six constituent city indices, four were down from a year earlier: Vancouver (−9.6%), Calgary (−8.4%), Toronto (−6.7%) and Halifax (−0.8%). While prices were still up from a year earlier in Montreal (3.2%) and Ottawa (2.8%), the 12-month increase in those two cities has decelerated markedly in recent months. In Calgary, prices have been correcting for well over a year now - since August 2007 - and are now down 12.7% from the peak of that month. Calgary has shown monthly declines in 16 of the 19 months posted since then, including every month from last July through March. Vancouver prices have also shown nine consecutive monthly declines, and are down 11.7% from peak. Toronto prices have declined seven months in a row and are down 10.8% from peak. Ottawa prices have declined five months in a row and are down 4.3% from peak. A run of three monthly declines in Halifax was interrupted in March, but prices there are 3.0% below their November peak. Montreal prices have held up better. In March they were flat from the month before, down 1.6% from the peak of last September after monthly declines in four of the six intervening months. Teranet – National Bank House Price Index™ The historical data of the Teranet – National Bank House Price Index™ is available at www.housepriceindex.ca. Metropolitan area Index level Mar-2009 % change m/m % change y/y From peak Peak Date Calgary 152.97 -0.8 % -8.4 % -12.7% Aug-2007 Halifax 118.17 1.0 % -0.8 % -3.0% Nov-2008 Montreal 120.60 0.0 % 2.9 % -1.6% Sep-2008 Ottawa 113.14 -0.5 % 1.0 % -4.3% Oct-2008 Toronto 104.68 -1.9 % -6.9 % -10.8% Aug-2008 Vancouver 133.02 -1.7 % -9.6 % -11.7% Jun-2008 National Composite 119.62 -1.3 % -5.8 % -8.5% Aug-2008 The Teranet–National Bank House Price Index™ is estimated by tracking observed or registered home prices over time using data collected from public land registries. All dwellings that have been sold at least twice are considered in the calculation of the index. This is known as the repeat sales method; a complete description of the method is given at www.housepriceindex.ca