In the fourth quarter of 2014, average home prices for most real estate markets across the country indicated healthy year-over-year gains, according to the latest Royal LePage (RLP) House Price Survey. The average price of a Canadian home increased between 4.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent from the same period in 2013. Condominiums saw a 4.5 per cent gain in pricing, reaching an average of $257,624.

“In the fourth quarter of 2014, real estate markets unfolded as we anticipated, with modest year-over-year price changes in most regions contrasted against continued steep price increases in Western Canada and Greater Toronto,” says Phil Soper, Royal LePage President and CEO. “This follows a similar trend observed in the third quarter of 2014, when we predicted the beginning of a cyclical slowing in home price appreciation, to a pace that better reflects broad economic factors.”

In their 2015 Market Survey Forecast, Royal LePage predicts a moderate average price increase of 2.9 per cent for Canada’s homes in 2015. Soper and other forecast participants attribute this prediction to several factors including a decline in oil prices, a stronger Ontario export economy, improved labour market conditions, and remaining demand from homebuyers who lost out in 2014 bidding wars.

Though some threats to the housing market persist, including interest rate hikes and federal government influence on the mortgage market, Royal LePage analysts believe these risks are unlikely to have significant impacts on Canadian real estate in 2015.

During Q4 2014, Toronto condominium prices rose by 6.9 per cent, year-over-year, to an averaged $384,680. Calgary and Edmonton also witnessed strong year-over-year gains across all housing types, with Q4 condo prices rising 9.1 per cent and 12.2 per cent, respectively.