TORONTO PULLS DOWN NATIONAL COMPOSITE HOME PRICE INDEX

Falling home prices in Toronto in September dragged down the Teranet- National Bank national composite house price index as it posted its first monthly decline since January 2016. The national index, which includes 11 cities, fell 0.8 per cent compared with the previous month. The move lower came as the index for Toronto, Canada’s largest housing market, fell 2.7 per cent on a month-over- month basis. In addition the price index for Quebec City lost 2.3 per cent, while Hamilton slipped 1.9 per cent, Halifax dropped 0.4 per cent and Winnipeg lost 0.3 per cent. The index for Victoria was flat, while Vancouver increased 1.3 per cent, Calgary added 0.7 per cent, Montreal climbed 0.3 per cent, OttawaGatineau gained 0.3 per cent and Edmonton edged up 0.2 per cent.