Despite soaring prices in pandemic, CMHC says housing market is only 'moderately' vulnerable

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the country's housing sector is facing a moderate degree of vulnerability to market instability for the second straight quarter.

The federal housing agency says the brunt of those risks have been shouldered by Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Halifax and Moncton, which all had high levels of vulnerability in the first quarter of 2021.

Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax moved from moderate to high degrees of vulnerability during the quarter as housing prices increased in Toronto and Halifax and overvaluation materialized in Ottawa.

The Hamilton and Moncton markets were showing a high degree of vulnerability in the prior quarter and held onto that rating as neither market cooled off.

CMHC says Vancouver's housing market vulnerability remained moderate even as the city's quarterly pace of sales returned to levels not seen since 2017, leading to significant price increases.

Calgary and Edmonton moved from low to moderate degrees of vulnerability as Calgary reported high levels of excess housing inventory and Edmonton grappled with overvaluation.