Real home prices peaked in 1989, the recession hit in 1990, home prices fell 7% from the peak until the end of 1990, the recession ended in the spring of 1991 but real U.S. home prices continued to fade for years until they bottomed out in 1997, down 14% from the 1989 peak eight years earlier.

Stagflation is characterized by slow economic growth and relatively high unemployment—or economic stagnation—which is at the same time accompanied by rising prices (i.e. inflation). Stagflation can also be alternatively defined as a period of inflation combined with a decline in gross domestic product (GDP).

House prices fell by 15.9% in 2008, Nationwide said today – the biggest annual drop since the society began publishing its index in 1991. December saw a 2.5% fall in prices – the second biggest monthly fall of the year after May, when prices were down 2.6%.

Over the year, new housing prices were down 1.4% from their average in 2008, but resale prices rose 4.1%. Both markets were stronger in the second half of the year than in the first half.

The Case-Shiller and Teranet series indicate that over 2000–2006, U.S. prices appreciated nearly twice as much as Canadian houses. However, Canadian house prices continued to appreciate until late 2008, and are now nearly 80 percent higher than in 2000.

What’s in store for the housing market Canada is targeting 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023, equal to about one per cent of the population for each of those years. The impact on the demand for homeownership will likely be felt with a lag, Thanabalasingam says.

While the market has proved that anything is possible (and nothing is shocking) experts predict a slightly-softening market in the medium-term. “Our price forecast for the Toronto CMA calls for strong house price growth in 2021 and more modest, single-digit, price growth in 2022 and 2023,” says Senagama.

Toronto’s housing dillemma At this rate, 2021 will go down in history as a record-breaking year for real estate in Toronto and across Canada. The good news is that the government and Bank of Canada have made this situation somewhat sustainable, but only in the short term.