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There might be an end in sight for some of Canada’s red-hot housing markets.

The Ottawa-based Canadian Real Estate Association said existing homes sales were down 2.8 per cent in May from April on a seasonally adjusted basis and CREA, which represents about 115,000 realtors across the country, predicts 2017 will see a major levelling off in the market.

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“The long-awaited cooling of Canada’s housing market may be finally at hand,” said Robert Hogue, senior economist with the Royal Bank of Canada. “Only time will tell. When you look at market conditions in Canada’s two hot markets, it is still very, very tight.”

Pressure has been building on the federal government to intervene in the housing market — even a couple of bank chief executives have expressed concerns about market conditions that saw Vancouver and Toronto resale home prices increase about 30 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, in May from a year ago.