Teranet House Price Index for April 2009

JUNE 2009

Downtrend slower in three cities Canadian home prices in April were down 6.7% from a year earlier, according to the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index™. It was the fifth consecutive 12-month decline. April was also the eighth straight month in which the composite index fell from the month before - the longest run of monthly declines since the beginning of index coverage in February 2000. The composite index is now 8.9% below the 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, three were down from a year earlier: Vancouver (−10.9%), Calgary (−9.8%) and Toronto (−7.6%). Three cities held out against 12-month deflation, though with marked deceleration of their 12-month rises: Montreal (2.4%), Ottawa (0.6%) and Halifax (0.2%). The 12-month price increase in Halifax was the first since January. Calgary prices have been correcting for well over a year now, since August 2007, and are now down 13.3% from the peak of that month. Calgary has shown monthly declines in 17 of the 20 months posted since then, including the 10 consecutive months from last July through April. Vancouver prices have also shown 10 straight monthly declines and are down 11.9% from peak. Toronto prices have declined eight months in a row and are 11.3% below peak. In Ottawa the downtrend is less pronounced: prices have declined in each of the six months since the October peak and are now down a cumulative 4.8%. Halifax and Montreal prices were up from the previous month in both March and April and are now only 1.7% and 1.4% below their respective peaks. 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 April 2009 % change m/m % change y/y From peak Peak Date Calgary 152.01 -0.6 % -9.8 % -13.3% August 2007 Halifax 119.81 1.4 % 0.2 % -1.7% November 2008 Montreal 120.79 0.2 % 2.4 % -1.4% September 2008 Ottawa 112.53 -0.5 % 0.6 % -4.8% October 2008 Toronto 104.01 -0.6 % -7.6 % -11.3% August 2008 Vancouver 132.67 -0.3 % -10.9 % -11.9% June 2008 National Composite 119.19 -0.4 % -6.7 % -8.9% August 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 The Teranet–National Bank House Price Index™ is an independently developed representation of average home price changes in six metropolitan areas: Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax. The national composite index is the weighted average of the six metropolitan areas. The weights are based on aggregate value of dwellings as retrieved from the 2006 Statistics Canada Census. According to that census1, the aggregate value of occupied dwellings in the metropolitan areas covered by the indices was $1.168 trillion, or 53% of the Canadian aggregate value of $2.207 trillion. All indices have a base value of 100 in June 2005. For example, an index value of 130 means that home prices have increased 30% since June 2005. By: Marc Pinsonneault Senior Economist Economy & Strategy Team National Bank Financial Group Teranet - National Bank House Price Index™ thanks the author for their special collaboration on this report. 1 Value of Dwelling for the Owner-occupied Non-farm, Non-reserve Private Dwellings of Canada.