Ontario experienced a surge in home resale activity this past spring following a year-long period of repair in housing affordability, signaling that the overall housing market in the province may have seen the worst of its downturn, according to the latest housing report released today by RBC Economics.
"After falling heavily during the fall and early winter, Ontario's housing market is seeing a resurgence, due in large part to greater affordability," said Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC, in a release.
"Average prices for existing homes have started to rise again, climbing back to where they were in mid-2008, with spring resales figures showing a surprising surge of activity across the province."
The RBC Housing Affordability measure for Ontario, which captures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, dropped below long-term averages for detached bungalows and condominiums during the first quarter of 2009.
Affordability of the benchmark detached bungalow in Ontario moved to 38.6 per cent, the standard townhouse to 31.8 per cent, the standard condo to 27 per cent and the standard two-storey home to 44.2 per cent.
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